Investec Champions Cup: Cardiff 32-39 Bath - Visitors edge 10-try Arms Park thriller

Cardiff and Wales wing Josh Adams scores his first of two tries

Bath got the better of Cardiff in an Investec Champions Cup 10-try thriller at the Arms Park.

Bath replacement Jaco Coetzee crossed for two tries after scores from Joe Cokanasiga, Ollie Lawrence, Alfie Barbeary and Tom Dunn, with Finn Russell adding nine points.

Josh Adams scored two tries for Cardiff before being forced off injured, with further tries for Gabriel Hamer-Webb and Ben Thomas.

Tinus de Beer kicked 12 points.

Cardiff had the consolation of two losing bonus points but will feel their efforts deserved more.

This used to be a regular Anglo-Welsh fixture, with a famous Heineken Cup quarter-final also occurring in 1996 which attracted 14,000 fans.

That occasion was won by Cardiff at a packed Arms Park thanks to a Nigel Walker try and the boot of Jonathan Davies and Lee Jarvis.

Fast forward 27 years and the crowd for this game was 10,158. It was the biggest attendance of the season so far in Cardiff and pointed to the benefit of fixtures that attract supporters from both sides rather than league matches against sides from nations further afield.

If ever there were a match to give advocates of an Anglo-Welsh league undeniable evidence to support their cause, this stunning spectacular was it.

Cardiff's fast start sets early tone

Cardiff made five changes to the side that lost 52-7 to Toulouse last time out, with hooker Liam Belcher returning as captain and Corey Domachowski, flanker Alex Mann, centre Rey Lee-Lo and full-back Cameron Winnett also included.

Cardiff fielded a young back-row trio of Mann, 21, Lucas de la Rua, 19, and Mackenzie Martin, 20, with internationals Taulupe Faletau, Lopeti Timani, Thomas Young and James Botham injured and Ellis Jenkins suspended.

Bath, who lie second in the English Premiership and began their European campaign with a 37-14 win against Ulster, made four changes with prop Thomas du Toit, lock Josh McNally, flanker Chris Cloete and full-back Tom de Glanville returning, but England flanker Sam Underhill missed out.

South African fly-half De Beer produce a searing early break, and with Bath failing to deal with his chip-kick, the ball was moved to Adams who scythed through to the line to open the scoring.

Bath responded almost immediately with a powerful break from number eight Barbeary which set the platform for Russell to release wing Cokanasiga in the right corner.

Russell missed the conversion but showed his class as he dummied his way through the Cardiff defence before his long pass was collected by Will Muir who passed on to Lawrence to score.

Russell again missed the kick, with De Beer slotting over a penalty to level the scores after a Ben Thomas break.

Cardiff regained the lead with a brilliant opportunistic effort from Adams as he latched on to a hack through from Tomos Williams and sprinted away from Russell, avoiding a challenge from Cameron Redpath.

In the breathless encounter, back came Bath and Barbeary powered over with Russell converting to level the scores.

De Beer slotted over a second penalty before Adams was forced off the field with an injury picked up while scoring his second try. Former Bath wing Hamer-Webb was his replacement.

Bath hooker Dunn scored his side's bonus-point fourth try from a driving line-out, and Russell converted.

Cardiff centre Ley-Lo produced a storming breakaway with Winnett's clever chip kick setting up an attacking line-out.

Patient build-up was followed by a ferocious hand-off from Wales lock Teddy Williams to release Hamer-Webb, who beat three defenders and sprinted away to score against his old team.

Cardiff led 25-24 at half-time after a 40 minutes that produced seven tries and saw the lead repeatedly change hands.

Bath bench tells

Excitement continued in the second half as Tomos Williams and Ley-Lo created the chance for Thomas to canter over, with De Beer converting.

Yet another failed kick-off from Cardiff gave Bath another attacking platform with Russell eventually slotting over a penalty to put the visitors to within a score.

A borderline tackle from Bath replacement Coetzee on Thomas went unpunished by Scottish referee Sam Grove-White.

The crowd were later infuriated when Grove-White awarded a try to Coetzee despite desperate defensive efforts of wing Mason Grady and flanker Mann. That levelled the scores, with Russell's conversion going wide.

A potential forward pass was not awarded in the build-up to Coetzee's second try with Cokanasiga's burst setting up the chance as Bath restored their lead, this time decisively.

Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt: "When the game got unstructured and there was a bit of transition, I thought we were good.

"On the whole, I'm sure it was an enjoyable game to watch. Maybe not so much for me as a coach at times.

"But I'm proud of the players to go toe-to-toe with the best team in the Premiership at the moment. It's a credit to some of the boys out there.

"I knew we were going to get a good emotional response, it was just whether we could put enough quality action on the pitch that added to that emotional response. I think in the end we did. It was a one-score game again."

Bath head coach Johann van Graan: "It was like the wild west out there at times. They scored early, we came back and both teams just fired shots the whole team.

"This pitch is so fast and if you conceded a line break, it is so difficult to stop that momentum. I thought it was a very good advert for the competition, two teams going at each other for 80 minutes.

"It was not perfect by any means and I want to give credit to Cardiff because they played very well and I will remember tonight as a massive battle."

Cardiff: Winnett; Adams, Lee-Lo, B Thomas, Grady; T de Beer, Tomos Williams; Domachowski, Belcher (capt), Assiratti, Thornton, Teddy Williams, Mann, L de la Rua, Martin.

Replacements: E Lloyd, Carre, Litterick, Turnbull, Lawrence, Bevan, Halaholo, Hamer-Webb.

Bath: T de Glanville; Cokanasiga, Redpath, Lawrence, Muir; Russell, Spencer (capt); Obano, Dunn, T du Toit, McNally, Ewels, Reid, Cloete, Barbeary.

Replacements: Faiva, Schoeman, Stuart, Roux, Stooke, Schreuder, Bailey, J Coetzee.

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland).

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