Bath and London Irish go head-to-head in Premiership try butchering fest
Henry Arundell might well look like a try scoring machine, but the 20-year-old showed that he is indeed fallible at the weekend with a butchered finish for London Irish.
The England international strolled in for a try on Saturday against Northampton Saints at the GTech Community Stadium after being put in by Ben Loader, or so it appeared. Bizarrely, he timed his dive over the line incorrectly and the ball ended up bobbling out of his grasp even before he had crossed the whitewash.
London Irish were leading 31-17 at that point with ten minutes remaining, and went on to win 37-22, so the non try did not have a great impact on the result or the Exiles’ season, but it was embarrassing nevertheless.
Take a look:
Arundell secured his place on the shortlist for butchered try on the season, but he will have stiff competition from Bath, who joined that same list only 24 hours later.
On this occasion it was a team effort from Bath at the Rec against Exeter Chiefs, as the home side seemed to squander a three on no one in a display of finishing that might help explain why they are at the foot of the Gallagher Premiership table.
Matt Gallagher would have been licking his lips as he was racing down the wing waiting for the ball, but a loose pass from Tom de Glanville meant fans missed out on what would have been a superb team try.
This happened more or less at the same time as Arundell’s butchered try, and the scores were very similar as well, with Bath leading at that point 33-19. They also went on to win the match 36-19, meaning that on both occasions, London Irish and Bath could look back and laugh rather than rueing costly mistakes.
Take a look at Bath’s effort:
How did @BathRugby not finish that off?! 🤯
Hands on heads all around 🙆#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/vqokGX8bYf
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) March 26, 2023
