Bath wait until 78th minute to snatch dramatic win over Harlequins

October may be early for statements, but Bath laid one down with a dogged triumph that was snatched at the death by Francois van Wyk.

The visitors did not lead until the 78th minute when their replacement prop burrowed over, and Harlequins will be bitterly disappointed. In a Premiership comprising just 18 regular season fixtures, a campaign can slip away quickly and they have now lost three from five.

Bath’s stacked squad was always going to pose the question of whether the hosts could back up their heroics against Saracens. That victory just six days previously had clearly exacted an immense physical and emotional toll.

As far as creating an atmosphere at the Twickenham Stoop, particularly under lights, Harlequins are onto a good thing. Their players responded here. Rodrigo Isgró, the Argentina sevens star, bagged a debut double and Jack Kenningham shone again. Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt also warmed up nicely for England’s autumn.

Ultimately, Bath dug deeper to defy two yellow cards. Ollie Lawrence produced moments of class and Guy Pepper – not in England’s immediate plans – is a menacing flanker with a talent for wreaking breakdown havoc. Still 21, he has some future ahead.

“We spoke in the week about this being a heavyweight boxing fight,” said Johann van Graan, the Bath director of rugby. “It’s important to win away games and that’s three on the bounce for us now. When we went down to 14 tonight, we were actually the stronger team.”

Conversely, Danny Wilson rued “soft penalties” and an inability to kill off a contest that was there for the taking. “The key word is frustration,” admitted Harlequins’ head coach.

An unbroken passage of five minutes set an exhausting tone from kick-off and Harlequins were soon ahead. Given the form of Tom Willis, Steve Borthwick’s selection shows significant faith in Dombrandt.

While the latter, returning from a hand injury, is not a No 8 to batter into brick walls 20 times a game, he possesses subtle skills. One diving offload from the base of a retreating scrum in the second half was especially polished.

Another fillip for Dombrandt is his telepathic relationship with Smith. In the seventh minute, he accelerated onto his fly-half’s pass and arced around Lawrence to score.

Alfie Barbeary’s game ended after 10 minutes due to a fall that caused his head to whiplash into the turf and Smith soon crafted a second try, dinking a kick-pass for a leaping Isgró.

Bath hit back through Pepper’s spinning finish and, when Tom Dunn saw yellow for a ruck offence, they rallied. Beno Obano was their emergency line-out thrower, feeding a drive that was taken on by a rampaging Jaco Coetzee. Tom de Glanville danced through but the scores were only level for a couple of minutes, Harlequins retaking the lead with Isgró’s snipe.

Fearful depth makes Bath a tough team to shake off. Thomas du Toit, arguably the Premiership’s best front-rower, arrived off the bench with half an hour remaining. Harlequins responded by unleashing Joe Marler, Nathan Jibulu and Chandler Cunningham-South.

Cunningham-South, poised to be a game-breaker for England this autumn, stormed directly up the middle with his first touch. Seconds later, however, the relentless Pepper pounced for a vital turnover.

In front of an observing Richard Hill, Bath’s arch scavenger continued to live on the edge and toppled over it to receive a yellow card on the hour mark. Smith, who had released Luke Northmore, converted the penalty but Bath again made light of their numerical disadvantage, Austin Emens scampering close before Du Toit crashed over.

With three minutes left, an offside penalty presented Bath with one last chance. Finn Russell fizzed flat with runners around him, De Glanville jinked to within a metre and Van Wyk landed the bonus point and a gut-punch to Harlequins. Last season’s runners-up, Bath appear intent on going one better.