Bath's recreation ground is the setting for tonight's heavyweight Gallagher Premiership clash between second-place Bath and third-place Saracens. Both sides are looking to secure a favourable points advantage heading into the business end of the season.
The home crowd slowly built up their anticipation with kickoff imposing, but it wasn't until the Bath lads made their semi-circle arc towards the changing rooms that the home faithful started to make the noise expected for such an occasion.
It was Saracens that hit first, both on the scoreline and in the tackle area with thunderous hit after thunderous hit. Despite a hyped-up away side ready to cause a relative upset, the scores remained limited to just five points until the end of the first half with Rotimi Segun collecting a chipped ball.
Minutes before that, however, Saracens' gameplan was set on a very narrow knife-edge when Maro Itoje collided with England hopeful Alife Barbeary in the centre field. A clear head-on-head collision sent the giant Saracens lock straight to the bin, leaving centre Nick Tomkins to take his place in the scrum.
Since the collision, fans have been debating the punishment for the act, with many believing a red card would have been more suitable.
"You simply cannot mitigate a red card to a yellow based on anything but technique, should see red for that tackle" whilst another came to the referees defence, adding: "A bit naughty to only show that angle which makes it look like a red. Ref was spot on when you see from behind."
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