Bath replacement Alex Davies missed a late penalty which meant his side had to settle for a 35-35 draw with Wasps at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday.
Ten tries from ten different scorers whetted everyone’s appetite for tries but did little to help the fortunes of either side in this competition.
Bath squandered a 14 point advantage to trail midway through the second 40 and then held the lead again themselves only to lose it.
Joe Cokanasiga’s week got better when he opened the scoring with less than three minutes on the clock. Allowed space to attack the Wasps defence; he ran straight and direct trading passes with Will Chudley before finishing well.
It was exactly what the visitor’s deserved. Their last trip here yielded victory just over 12 months ago and Wasps’ home record is not what it was then.
Yet Wasps, as they often do, stung the visitors with their first meaningful visit into Bath territory. Joe Simpson adopted the blindside from a scrum 15 metres out, stood up his man and sent Josh Bassett diving into the corner.
The game’s parity lasted all of a few minutes. Max Wright finding a gaping hole in the Wasps defence which he exploited. Hooker Jack Walker ran an excellent support line to receive and then return the pass allowing Wright to dive over.
Wasps though begun building momentum and created a foothold in the game but were dealt a sucker punch when Semesa Rokoduguni intercepted and ran over half the pitch to dive over.
Bath’s perfect first 40 though was in danger of being undermined. Francois Louw receiving a yellow card for lifting a player beyond the horizontal. Wasps though – for most of the half – had lacked ideas in attack. The ingenuity so synonymous with them was absent and they headed into the interval 21-7 down.
Three tries in seven second half minutes though transformed the contest and the mood, and showed Wasps still possess their mojo. First Simpson crashed over when Zurabj Zhvania offloaded to the scrum-half centimetres from the Bath line. The prop then scored a try of his own off a short ball under the posts. 21-21.
The swarm was in overdrive and Bath had no answer. Ashley Johnson – carrying monstrously throughout – ran a great line ten metres out and had the power to bowl over, to put Wasps ahead for the first time in the afternoon.
The seesaw encounter showed no intention of easing up. Minutes after Wasps had grabbed the lead Charlie Ewels took a short ball and raced under the posts to level on 56 minutes. A bonus point apiece.
Todd Blackadder’s side then stole back the lead courtesy of Louw. Back in the thick of things following his sin bin period. Bath peppering the Wasps line with forward drive after forward drive and it was eventually the South African who broke their resistance. 35-28 with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Wasps levelled once again five minutes later via Thomas Young. The Bath defence relieving pressure momentarily but Elliot Daly ran an excellent line to break through the on-rushing defence. Simpson supported the captain well before he then offloaded to Young.
Bath held possession going into the game’s final moments and drew the penalty out by the touchline with 60 seconds remaining. Davies, on for Freddie Burns who kicked five from five, hooked his shot meaning the game ended all square.
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Bassett, Simpson, Zhvania, Johnson, Young
Cons: Sopoaga 5
For Bath:
Tries: Cokanasiga, Wright, Rokoduguni, Ewels, Louw
Cons: Burns 5
Yellow card: Louw
Wasps: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Elliot Daly (c), 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Zurabi Zhvania
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Rob Miller
Bath: 15 Darren Atkins, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Max Wright, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Max Green, 22 Alex Davies, 23 Tom Homer
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
Television match official: Éric Briquet-Campin (France)