Matt Banahan's hat-trick enough for Bath to beat Montpellier in Champions Cup
Last Updated: 13/12/14 9:29am
Matt Banahan outshone Bath debutant Sam Burgess with a hat-trick as they eased to a 32-12 win over Montpellier in the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Banahan scored twice in a one-sided first quarter at The Recreation Ground and completed his treble after the break as Mike Ford's men followed up last week's win in France to keep their hopes of a place in the last-eight alive.
The former England winger opened the scoring inside three minutes, although his try came after a long deliberation over a forward pass that took a deflection of Burgess' hip.
George Ford made the conversion and added a penalty as Bath scored at a point a minute, Montpellier passing up the chance to open their account when Jonathan Pelissie was just off target with a penalty.
Bath soon increased their lead with a second try on 15 minutes with Burgess, making his full debut after a couple of outings off the bench since his move from rugby league, making a decoy run to give Banahan space out wide and run to the line for his second score.
Ford again nailed the conversion but Bath failed to build on their very promising start while never really looking like giving up their advantage.
Montpellier spent plenty of time on the front foot before half-time but could not convert their chances with Bath's defence again proving strong, just as it had in the 30-5 win last weekend.
Ford made it 20-0 early in the second half with his second penalty of the night and Bath all but sealed victory when Banahan completed his hat-trick after Chris Cook broke from the back of the scrum - again he had to wait for a TMO call on a possible forward pass.
But Montpellier were in no mood to go home scoreless and they managed a couple of tries to cut the deficit to 25-12, No 8 Alex Tulou and hooker Mickael Ivaldi going over from close range.
However it was the home side who had the last laugh and claimed a vital bonus point when Horacio Agulla sliced through the Montpellier defence and crossed for their fourth try, Ford converting for a 12-point haul as Bath moved into second in Pool 4, at least until Saturday when Glasgow host leaders Toulouse.
