The key point for me in this match was five minutes in to the second half when Bath were awarded a penalty under the Leicester posts. Leading 23-0 against a very under par Tigers I would have opted for a scrum to try and gain the vital fourth try. Instead Bath opted for a kick at goal and never scored another point. On such decisions trophies are won and lost and I hope this decision doesn't come back to haunt the Bath players.

However it would be slightly churlish to focus on this one area of the game after having enjoyed some excellent play throughout the first half. The running and passing of the whole of the Bath team was exhilarating at times and the fact that their delivery didn't always match their ambition reflected the height of that ambition rather than a  lack of skill.

Butch James is fast becoming a rugby God in my eyes because he makes our team tick. His leadership and general game management seems to shift the players up a gear or two. Tonight I saw Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu make two runs that made me smile with pleasure. The first involved a turn of speed through the middle of the pitch which was so fast that it looked as though someone had lit the blue touch-paper: where did that come from? A few more of those each game and even I might be converted to this player.

But the thing about Butch isn't just his ball skills and playmaker vision, it's his willingness to hit the opposition as hard as any forward. Who'd have thought from this performance that our World Cup winning fly-half had been out for weeks with a damaged shoulder?

Bath started the match with a try after three minutes from Matt Stevens and followed this up with two Butch James' penalties. However, despite enjoying all the possession and territory it took until the 35th minute for Bath to score again through Lee Mears with Matt Banahan scoring a few minutes later.

Bath should have built on this lead in the second half but Leicester finally found their game and kept Bath on the back foot for much of the time and scored two tries through Humphreys and Murphy. Bath lost Claassens and Banahan to the bin in the final 15 minutes and at one stage it was 13 man rear-guard activity for the home side.

We should have won this game with a scoring bonus and I hope the absence of a point doesn't adversely impact the end of our season.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

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