Stephen Donald began the week by landing the winning penalty in a World Cup final. Sam Vesty, the man keeping the Bath No10 shirt warm while the All Black continues his fishing holiday, ended the week with the deciding kick in another one-point victory.
It may be smaller fry but this was an important win for Bath, who host the Premiership leaders, Harlequins, on Saturday. By that time Donald will have arrived to prepare for the Heineken Cup opener in Glasgow the following weekend. On the last day of British Summer Time there were more hints that Bath are turning the clock back to happier days, when they dominated English club rugby.
Ian McGeechan, their director of rugby, said: "This is a once in a lifetime experience for Stephen and we're happy for him to continue his fishing holiday. He's a very talented player. He's got great composure, a good kicking game and is a good game manager, and he'll be available for the start of the Heineken Cup."
Donald's new team-mates had to dig deep to win a game that McGeechan said had developed into a "dogfight". And all this without the services of "Mad Dog" himself, Lewis Moody, and a host of other injured players. They also suffered a blow just before the break when Tom Biggs was the victim of a high tackle by Delon Armitage that meant the wing was too dazed to continue in the second half.
With their South African flanker Francois Louw concussed after another illegal tackle, against Worcester, this might have been one headache too many for the visitors but Armitage was sent to the sin-bin and Bath made sure justice was done when they won a lineout from the penalty. They worked the ball infield for Vesty to plunge over for the only score of a dire first half.
When Bath last came here, on New Year's Day, Armitage's row with a drugs‑tester resulted in an eight-week ban that caused him to miss the Six Nations. He also missed England's World Cup defeat by France after being cited for a high tackle on Scotland's Chris Paterson. It was not a happy return to Premiership duty for the full-back, or for Shontayne Hape. Playing against the club he left in the summer, the England centre conceded Vesty's winning penalty, after being judged to have put his hand in a ruck three minutes from time.
It was a harsh decision and Bath's other try came courtesy of the television match official, who decided that Dave Attwood had grounded the ball in the corner before Darren Allinson and Armitage could flip the lock over the touchline.
Toby Booth, the London Irish head coach, was unhappy at the refereeing of the breakdown, and that Irish were penalised for collapsing a last-minute scrum. He had a point but defeat would have been as tough on Bath as it had been on France a week earlier.
London Irish Armitage; Ojo, Joseph (Thompstone, 18), Hape, Homer; Bowden (capt), Allinson; Lahiff (Corbisiero, 54), Paice (Buckland, 57), Ion (Rautenbach, 57), Kennedy, Evans (Sandford, 63), Danaher (Sinclair, 63), Gibson, Thorpe.
Pens Homer 4.
Sin-bin Armitage 32.
Bath Abendanon; Woodburn, Carraro, Banahan, Biggs (Cuthbert, h-t); Vesty, Claassens; Catt (Beech, 63), Mears (Batty, 76), Perenise (Wilson, 55), Hooper (capt), Attwood (Caldwell, 76), Skirving, Mercer, Taylor.
Tries Vesty, Attwood Pen Vesty.
Referee D Rose (Warwickshire). Attendance 9,252.
