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Investec Champions Cup
Bath (28) 63
Tries: Du Toit, Penalty try, Obano, Dunn, Cokanasiga 2, Spencer, Arundell, Ojomoh
Cons: Russell 8
Edinburgh (10) 10
Try: O’Conor Con: Thompson
Bath sealed top spot in Pool 2 and a home last-16 tie in the Investec Champions Cup with a nine-try thrashing of Edinburgh.
By topping the pool, Johann van Graan’s side will also have a home quarter-final if they progress past the last 16.
All three of Bath’s front-row forwards – Thomas du Toit, Beno Obano and Tom Dunn – crossed in the first half, with the trio also helping to win a scrum penalty try.
In a dominant second half Joe Cokanasiga scored twice, with Ben Spencer, Henry Arundell and Max Ojomoh also bagging tries.
Centre Piers O’Conor scored the visitors’ only try as six changes from last week’s starting XV that beat Gloucester proved costly.
Edinburgh, who are second in the pool, now need results to go their way in order to qualify for the last 16.
Victory for Munster over Castres (Saturday, 17:30 GMT) and Toulon at Gloucester (Saturday, 20:00 GMT) will be enough to see the Scottish side through to the knockouts.
Bath power and pace too much
The English champions knew five points would secure top spot and turned down an early kickable penalty, with Du Toit rewarding that call.
A mistake by O’Conor then put Edinburgh under immense pressure, eventually resulting in a five-metre scrum and a penalty try.
Number eight Alfie Barbeary – player of the match against Castres last Friday – was disappointed not to be awarded the score after tight control at the back of the scrum.
Pure power, led by Barbeary, proved too much for the URC side, and that was evident again as prop Obano and hooker Dunn crossed from close range.
Between those scores, Harry Paterson broke clear before clever link-play resulted in a superb try, but equally impressive was a turnover from flanker Freddy Douglas to halt a dangerous Bath attack.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend was at the Rec and will have been pleased to see two of his young internationals thriving against tough opposition.
But that was as good as it got for the visitors. Cokanasiga stormed up the wing, brushing off a number of defenders to score.
Ojomoh’s handling skills were again instrumental to help set Cokanasiga clear, with the winger then turning provider for Spencer.
Sharp finishes from Bath’s scintillating backs further rewarded the bruising first-half effort from their forwards.
Ojomoh and Cokanasiga were the pick of Van Graan’s backs in another Champions Cup hammering.
Squad depth, power and an exciting backline make his side proper contenders, and home advantage in the knockouts will only further strengthen their case.
‘We came out flying’ – Barbeary
Player of the match Barbeary, speaking to Premier Sports: “We had a hunger for this game and wanted a home game in the knockout stage so that was the big thing for us.
“We came out flying and the result showed. We can’t wait [for the next round], we’ll see who we get and where the pool ends up and go from there.”
Line-ups
Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Lawrence, Arundell; Russell, Spencer (capt); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit, Roux, Molony, Pepper, Underhill, Barbeary.
Replacements: Frost, Van Wyk, Griffin, Hill, Reid, Carr-Smith, Carreras, Redpath
Edinburgh: Paterson; Graham, O’Conor, Lang, Satala; Thompson, Vellacott (capt); Whitcombe, Ashman, Blyth-Lafferty, Hunter-Hill, Young, Dodd, Douglas, Muncaster.
Replacements: Morris, Jones, Hill, McVie, Boyle, Shiel, Healy, Brown.
Match officials
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)
Assistant referees: Franco Rosella (Ita) and Luca Bisetto (Ita)
TMO: Tual Trainini (Fra)
