Cokanasiga brace helps Bath to gritty win over Ulster

Cokanasiga scored the first and fourth try as Bath Rugby sealed a bonus-point win despite trailing 14-8 at the break, with prop Tom Dunn, replacement Thomas du Toit and full-back Matt Gallagher also going over in what became a rout of the Irish Province. 

The early stages of the match were tight, with Bath Rugby fly-half Finn Russell uncharacteristically missing the match’s only real chance up to that point with a penalty. 

But the breakthrough eventually came for Bath Rugby in the 27th minute from a beautiful pass by scrum-half Ben Spencer out to Cokanasiga, who darted into the corner to finish. 

Spencer – a three-time winner of EPCR’s elite competition with Saracens - missed the conversion, but he didn’t make any mistakes from under the posts moments later when he kicked a penalty to put Bath Rugby 8-0 up. 

But then, in the blink of an eye, Ulster Rugby took the lead.  

First, fly-half Billy Burns improvised well to go over, with Nathan Doak kicking the extras to bring them within one. Then the full-back scored one of his own, Ulster Rugby racing away with brilliant hands down the right flank with Doak both going over and converting to put the visitors six to the good at the break.

But Bath Rugby came out well in the second period, and scored an early try in their typical manner from as the pack drove hard from a lineout deep in Ulster territory. It was prop Tom Dunn who made the final metre, with Spencer converting to put Bath Rugby up 15-14. 

The game remained tight, but Bath Rugby were now clearly on top with their scrum dominating, a fact which saw prop Beno Obano deservedly named Man of the Match.  

Russell soon kicked his first points from the tee to stretch Bath Rugby’s lead to four, and things got worse for the visitors when replacement Matty Rea was sent to the sin bin, and the game was all but put to bed when replacement Thomas du Toit made the breakthrough and battled his way over the line, Spencer additional the additional two. 

Bath Rugby were not done, and they sealed their win and excellent second-half performance with a try from full-back Gallagher. Replacement Orlando Bailey added the extras with the clock in the red. 

Bath Rugby will now face Racing 92 in Belfast next weekend, while Bath Rugby will travel to Scarlets.