CHIEFS GOTO TWICKENHAM FOR FINAL

As Player of the Match Harvey Skinner kicked off at a sun-drenched Recreation Ground, he may have never dreamed it would be the catalyst for a nerve-jangling, rip-roaring play-off that would see Chiefs into the PREM Final.

Having never been beaten in a play-off, albeit all those games being at home, Chiefs continued their run to book that precious trip to the Allianz Stadium.

The scrum appeared to be Chiefs undoing in the first half, but they turned it around in the second to claim the narrowest of wins that could have been undone had Santi Carreras kicked a drop-goal in the final minutes.

But the win went to Chiefs and here is how the game unfolded….

A first penalty to Chiefs saw Henry Slade kick to touch for Max Norey’s first thrown in at the lineout. A long pass from Slade looked to have set up young winger Campbell Ridl for an early opening try but referee Christophe Ridley rightly deemed it forward, despite the excitement and celebrations from the travelling fans.

Instead, it was Bath that were first to score as a yellow card for Slade gave them the opening they were looking for having been thwarted moments earlier when Ridl intercepted a Bath pass and robbed them of the territory and possession they had worked so hard to claim.

The penalty for Slade’s slap down of another Bath pass saw prop Beno Obano go over from close range and fly-half Carreras kicked the extras to make it 7-0 after 12 minutes played.

Skinner clawed back three points with a penalty three minutes later, but Bath continued to press with Chiefs trying to cope with a man down. A lineout deep in Chiefs territory and an Alfie Barbeary charge proved too much for the 14-men visitors, as prop Thomas du Toit crashed over for Bath’s second try. Carreras stepped up to nail his second conversion to take the scoreline to 14-3.

With Chiefs back to full numbers, the forwards and backs combined to recycle the ball and edge up the field. Slade’s pass to fit-again No 8 Greg Fisilau gave him space to find Paul Brown-Bampoe but the touchline was not their friend. Brown-Bampoe managed to stay inside but Fisilau then put a foot in touch as he tried to get the ball back to his winger.

Chiefs’ attacking endeavour was rewarded when a loose ball was collected by flanker Tom Hooper to set up a move that saw his back-row colleague Christ Tshiunza blast through Bath’s defence to get the visitors’ first try on the board. Skinner kicked the conversion to close the gap to four points at 14-10.

Bath were quick to reply though with Joe Cokanasiga going over the line after Tom de Glanville and Ollie Lawrence combined to put the big man into space down the wing. Carreras was successful from the tee again to bring up a 21-10 scoreline.

With Chiefs chasing any kind of possession in the final 10 minutes of the first half, they should have been glad of a Bath knock-on to give them the scrum. But Chiefs were pushed off the ball and a cross-field kick from scrum-half Ben Spencer to Henry Arundel allowed him to just get the ball down in the in-goal area.

The scrum was proving a powerful platform for Bath as the game continued to be played in Chiefs’ 22. A loose pass was collected by Slade to give their fans something to cheer about, but he was forced into touch by Carreras to bring to a close a frustrating first half for Chiefs.

Bath would not score any more points in this match with Scott Sio’s injury seeing an inspired replacement in Ethan Burger. The fight at scrum-time was about to turn.

A new front row for Chiefs got the better of Bath in the next scrum with a resulting penalty kicked to touch for the lineout. Joseph Dweba threw to Andrea Zambonin for the drive, but the ball was knocked on to give possession back to Bath.

A high tackle on Stephen Varney gave Chiefs a penalty shortly after and Slade went for the touchline once more with the scrum-half getting the ball out to Slade to get Ben Hammersley onto the ball for the score. Slade made no mistake with the conversion to bring the score to 26-17.

The tide was starting to turn as a Varney box-kick found Brown-Bampoe to get Chiefs into the right end of the field. A Skinner dummy gave him the space to ghost through to almost see Fisilau over the line. Burger tried to wriggle over but Fisilau was the one who found the smallest of gaps to get the try on the board and to bring the deficit back to four points.

Chiefs continued to batter Bath at scrum-time to frustrate the home side. A Hooper pass to lively replacement Ross Vintcent got Chiefs into Bath’s 22 with Fisilau and Len Ikitau fighting for more hard yards as Varney struggled with an eye injury while Cokanasiga was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.

The tension was palpable as the ball was kicked to touch for a lineout. Zambonin safely gathered the ball and Chiefs built the phases before Bath conceded another penalty and Slade kicked to touch once more.

Another dart-like throw to Zambonin followed but even if the drive was slow to get going, Brown-Bampoe and Dafydd Jenkins had a go at breaching the whitewash, but it was down to Burger to score the try to break Bath hearts. Slade failed with the conversion for a second time to leave a narrow one-point lead as the game entered its tense final 10 minutes.

Bath came back though and two turnovers saw them back on Chiefs’ 10-metre with the home side seeking a penalty but Skinner ripped the ball from Barbeary’s grasp to give possession back to Chiefs.

With Cokanasiga back on the field, danger still lurked but a tackle from Zack Wimbush pushed the winger back from the try-line but Bath were ready to recycle the ball once more with a drop-goal chance begging.

Carreras did not seem to want that drop-goal and the forwards kept inching closer to the try-line as the clock went into the red. As prop Vilikesa Sela made a last-gasp attempt to score, the ball was held up by Woodburn and Wimbush after 40 exhausting phases of play from Bath.

As the whistle went, the decision not to drop that goal will no doubt be rued by Bath but the fearsome defence of that try-line by Chiefs will be celebrated as they head into the final with that unbeaten record in play-off games in tact.

So it's the final next Saturday it's off to Twickenham the home of English Rugby for a 3pm kick off against Northampton Saints.