Bath Rugby 25-17 Harlequins: Joe Cokanasiga strikes twice to send Bath top of Gallagher Premiership table over Christmas

Christmas came early for Bath in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby as they outclassed Harlequins to secure a bonus-point victory and cement themselves at the top of the table over the festive period.

The fly-half duel between Marcus Smith and Finn Russell ended in a score draw but Joe Cokanasiga was the true star of the show.

The big wing looks back to his best with the Six Nations on the horizon and was unlucky not to finish with a hat-trick, touching down two tries with one disallowed.

After a tight first half, the game-changing damage was dealt by Bath at the start of the second half, with two tries inside nine minutes stretching the gap to more than two converted tries and Harlequins could never recover.

Harlequins slip to sixth in the table after Sale, Northampton and Exeter all won over the weekend and just missed out on the bonus point as Smith couldn’t convert James Chisholm’s last-gasp try - his kick slammed into the post on a gusty day in Somerset to the delight of the home crowd.

It wasn’t quite a perfect result though, Alfie Barbeary departed clutching his right arm after suffering a ferocious double tackle and both Johan van Graan and Steve Borthwick will be sweating on his fitness with the Investec Champions Cup and Six Nations coming up in the new year.

The stage looked set for this fixture to fulfil all the pre-game narratives when a moment of magic from Russell - or just another day at the office, as he calls it - helped set Cokanaisga free just a few minutes into the affair before Smith responded with a superb solo try to draw level.

But the rest of the game didn’t stick to that script, with sides combining for just three more first-half points.

There was still plenty of invention from both sides and Bath were desperately unlucky to see Cokanasiga’s 32nd-minute score chalked off after Will Muir and Ben Spencer defied belief to take play from one end of the field to the other.

Both sides struggled to go through the phases after those initial line breaks though, and it was a more route-one approach that opened things up in the second half for Bath with Elliott Stooke expertly piloting an unstoppable maul to extend their lead beyond one score.

It was another lineout drive that clinched the bonus point too and Russell showed his skills as a game manager rather than a game breaker in the second half with Harlequins rarely able to enter enemy territory with ball in hand as the game wore on.

Russell was helped in that regard by Ben Spencer at scrum-half, who played almost the entire 80 minutes and clearly outshone opposite number Danny Care - a victory that won’t go unnoticed by Borthwick.

Speaking of which, Cokanasiga must be on the England coach’s radar. He’s been superb all season and underlined that today, the dangerman didn’t get tons of touches but made each one count.

Van Graan described his as the most powerful winger he’s ever worked with and all of that was on display against Harlequins, with Cokanasiga’s second try showcasing his dual-threat, putting Louis Lynagh out of action with a devastating step off his right before putting a more Maori sidestep on Smith, barrelling over the fly-half to score.

Bath: Gallagher 6, Cokanasiga 8, Lawrence 7, Ojomoh 6, Muir 7, Russell 8, Spencer 7, Obano 7, Annett 6, Du Toit 7, Stooke 7, Ewels 7, Van Velze 6, Reid 7, Barbeary 7.

Replacements: Dunn 7, Schoeman 7, Stuart 7, Roux 7, Coetzee 6, Schreuder 6, Bailey 6, Redpath 7.

Harlequins: Green 5, David 6, Joseph 6, Esterhuizen 7, Lynagh 6, Smith 7, Care 6, Marler 7, Walker 7, Collier 6, Launchbury 6, Lewies 7, Cunningham-South 7, J Chisholm 7, Dombrandt 6.

Replacements: Riley 6, Baxter 5, Lewis 5, Herbst 6, Hammond 7, Evans 6, Porter 6, Beard 6

3’ - TRY! BATH 5-0 HARLEQUINS (COKANASIGA): We didn't hype up Russell for nothing! He takes the ball to the line off first phase and delays his pass just long enough to lure Lynagh out of the line, before freeing Lawrence. He makes the right pass at the right time to send Cokanasiga free and then blocks Esterhuizen legally but just enough to allow the wing to score. Russell's conversion just drifts wide though.

6’ - TRY! BATH 5-5 HARLEQUINS (SMITH): That hype? It's certainly living up to it! Quins are right back in it and it's all about Marcus Smith. He spots Miles Reid and Niall Annett in the defensive line and needs no invitation to burst through the gap before easily rounding Cokanasiga to score. His conversion slams into the post though, and we're as we were at kickoff!

32’ - TRY DISALLOWED, PENALTY! BATH 8-5 HARLEQUINS: WHAT. A. ********. SCORE! That is truly remarkable from Bath, Will Muir had been pretty quiet this game but no more! Fielding the ball deep in his 22, he arcs to the left and breaks through Tyrone Green with ease, though his pass to Ben Spencer wasn't the best. That doesn't matter though, the scrum-half impossibly catches it behind his back and a couple of phases later Cokanasiga walks over… But it’s been chalked off. Danny Care hurled himself at the ruck forcing Spencer to knock on so the try is disallowed, though Care's been sent to the sin-bin for that cynical play and Russell pockets the three points instead.

43’ - TRY! BATH 13-5 HARLEQUINS (STOOKE): And it's a costly yellow-card period, Bath wasted a few trips to the Harlequins 22 in the first half but Johan van Graan's team talk must've done the trick, Bath keep it in the maul and Elliott Stooke is the master pilot. Initially it splits off but he keeps it together and dots down to extend the lead past a try - though Russell can't add the conversion.

49’ - TRY! BATH 20-5 HARLEQUINS (COKANASIGA): He was denied by Care's cynical penalty, but that just made Joe Cokanasiga angry. He started Bath's latest attack with a thumping carry into Lynagh before every defender's nightmare: Cokanasiga receiving the ball in open space. He almost sends Lynagh into the River Avon with his step off the right foot then just powers through Smith like the fly-half isn't there and crashes over, with Russell adding the extras.

52’ - TRY! BATH 20-12 HARLEQUINS (WALKER): That's more route one! Harlequins finally nail a 5-metre linout and Stephan Lewies players a huge helping hand in clearing a route to the line for ex-Bath hooker Jack Walker. Smith's conversion sneaks pas the left-hand post by a literal hair's breadth too.

64’ - BARBEARY OFF: Very worrying indeed. Barbeary attempted to play on but his right arm is clearly still in pain after that Collier hit earlier in the half, he immediately seeks medical attention in the dugout and Jaco Coetzee is off.

74’ - TRY! BATH 25-12 HARLEQUINS (REID): We asked, they answered! Bath get the maul going and once again Quins had no response, with Reid touching down for the bonus point score before a frustrated Dombrandt starts a scuffle. Russell can't get the conversion with his last action of the game as Orlando Bailey trots on, Bath should see the game out from here though.

80+2’ - TRY! BATH 25-17 HARLEQUINS (CHISHOLM): And he does it! Chisholm's put in a cracking shift in defeat and he reached out to touch down and bring his side within touching distance of that bonus point. After Dombrandt is pulled away from another fight, Smith lines up the all-important conversion… And he misses! It wasn't the toughest conversion but his kick slams into the inside post and bounces out, Quins leave empty-handed.

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