Steve Meehan was delighted to see Bath cash in on other teams' international call-ups as his side defeated London Irish 35-22.
Bath coach delighted with bonus-point win at Exiles
Steve Meehan was delighted to see Bath cash in on other teams' international call-ups as his side defeated London Irish 35-22 at the Madejski Stadium.
The West Country side continue to enjoy the services of try-scorer Matt Banahan, hooker Lee Mears and Shontayne Hape, who have all been overlooked by England coach Martin Johnson for the Six Nations.
The bonus-point victory moves Bath up from 10th to seventh in the Guinness Premiership and head coach Meehan says his side are gaining valuable momentum.
"We've got the advantage at the moment where other sides are affected by international call-ups but it hasn't affected our squad as much," said Meehan, whose side appear to have put a poor start to the season firmly behind them.
"I'm certainly happy with that performance. It was probably our best performance of the season.
"But there are still things to improve on. The first 15 minutes of the second half we seemed to lose our composure but I was very pleased with the way they turned it around again in the last 25. We're playing with belief at the moment," he said.
Errors
Meanwhile, Exiles captain Bob Casey and coach Toby Booth were furious with their side's performance following a string of errors that virtually handed Bath victory before the break.
"It was a very disappointing first-half performance," reflected Casey. "Since this group of players has been together that's as bad as we've produced.
"It's going to be a tough week and we're going to have to ask questions of everyone and put it right for next weekend.
"We pride ourselves on our defence and we didn't make them work hard for some of their scores in the first half."
Booth added: "It's the first time in my tenure we haven't got the minimum standard of at least a losing bonus point."
