Upstarts of Leeds unhinge Bath

Leeds 10 Bath 6

Premiership rugby? Noth-ing to it. Leeds knuckled down – quite literally, in the case of their pugilistic prop, Justin Wring – to life in the big league by taking full advantage of one of Bath's more insipid performances and registering a wholly unexpected victory at the first time of asking. The Yorkshiremen may lack pace out wide, and in the fullness of time they may be confirmed as lacking genuine quality in key positions, but they are not short of guts and their collective bloody-mindedness will give them an even-money shot at survival.

Cameron Mather's try a little over 30 seconds into the second half proved the decisive score, and while Bath will undoubtedly point to the absence of Balshaw, Catt and the play-making prodigy Olly Barkley by way of explaining their lamentable failure on the finishing front, it would have been rough justice, indeed, had the good folk of Headingley been denied their reward. ''It was important to put down a marker,'' said Phil Davies, the Leeds coach. ''We've had a fair bit rammed down our throats about the demands of Premiership rugby, and I wanted a performance that would prove we at least had the heart and character to play at this level.'' Davies was given that performance, in triplicate. Mather, James Ponton and Isaac Fea'Unati repeatedly frustrated their West Country rivals in the loose exchanges, and the scrummaging honours also went Leeds' way. Chris Murphy and the hot second row property, Tom Palmer, caught a severe cold in the line-out, but they tackled themselves to a standstill and cleared rucks by the dozen. And behind that little lot, Scott Benton and Steve Bachop ruled the roost at half-back. Bachop, 35 going on 21, was not quite a revelation – he has, after all, been indulging his talent for oval-ball trickery since Noah first took wet-weather precautions – but he still managed to flummox his opponents with some sleight of hand here and a clever chip there.

With Matt Perry press-ganged by Bath into service at outside-half – the Lions full-back had spent so little meaningful time with his clubmates that he was relieved of the goal-kicking duties he performed last season – the old heads in the Leeds set-up detected the whiff of an opportunity. When the home side reached the interval on level terms, Jon Benson and Rob Thirlby having swapped penalties in a less than thrilling opening 40, they knew they were at the races, and Mather's ruthless exploitation of Tom Voyce's fragility under the high ball gave them the advantage they craved.

A dire first half was enlivened by Wring's sin-binning on 20 minutes. During his time at Bristol, the big tight head was famously described by the Australian coach, Bob Dwyer, as "the only man in rugby who can decelerate from a standing start". Wring has speeded up a little since then, and he was certainly quick with his fists when the Bath front row pinched an important defensive scrum ball against Benton's feed. While David Barnes departed for the treatment room with a gaping wound over his right eye, Wring departed for the cooler. It was not an edifying incident, but it at least served notice that Leeds were serious about competing.

Thirlby, nobody's idea of a dependable marksman, cancelled out Benson's opening three-pointer while Wring was off the pitch, but Bath failed to take further advantage of their temporary numerical supremacy. ''Leeds were direct and physical, while we lacked urgency and conviction,'' admitted Jon Callard, their coach. "It was a debacle, to be truthful, and I feel sorry for those supporters who travelled a long way to witness it. There will be no punches spared in training this week, that I can promise you.''

Leeds, by contrast, were left punching the air. Their very public failure to tie-up the signing of the Springbok front-rower Cobus Visagie was a serious blow to morale, and it spoke volumes for Davies' powers of motivation that they re-grouped to such effect. "Losing Cobus was a big disappointment," he acknowledged, "but as things stand, I'm delighted with the squad as it is. I want to build a star team here, not a team of stars. There is no end to the amount of work in front of us, but the way we defended when the pressure came on in the last five minutes proved that we have the nucleus of something."

Leeds: Try: Mather; Conversion: Benson; Penalty: Benson. Bath: Penalties: Thirlby 2.

Leeds: J Benson; D Scarbrough, J Mayer (T Davies, 67), S Woof, C Emmerson; S Bachop, S Benton; M Shelley (capt), M Holt, J Wring, C Murphy, T Palmer, C Mather (I Clarke, 67), J Ponton, I Fea'unati (C Hogg, 67).

Bath: R Thirlby; T Voyce, K Maggs, S Cox, S Danielli; M Perry, G Cooper; D Barnes (S Emms, 69), A Long, J Mallett, M Gabey (D Grewcock, h-t), S Borthwick, A Beattie (N Thomas, 48), J El Abd, D Lyle (capt).

Referee: R Maybank (London).