Over the weekend, the Autumn Internationals came to a close. Here’s a recap of how the Bath Rugby contingent got on for their respective countries over last month.
England
Tom Dunn, Charlie Ewels, Jonathan Joseph, Zach Mercer, Semesa Rokoduguni, Sam Underhill, Anthony Watson
A total of seven Bath Rugby players were named in the England squad for the three-match Test series in November.
Eddie Jones’ side kicked off with a hard-fought 21-8 victory against Argentina, with Semesa Rokoduguni coming off the bench to score his third try in as many international appearances.
A week later, England produced an inspired performance to beat Australia 30-6 at Twickenham. Bath centre Jonathan Joseph was one of four try scorers in a one sided affair at the home of English rugby.
England made it three out of three with a 48-14 triumph over Samoa to put a marker down ahead of the Six Nations, which gets underway in February. It was another strong showing from the Bath contingent, with Charlie Ewels and Rokoduguni crossing the whitewash in the seven-try triumph.
Wales
Scott Andrews (on loan from Cardiff Blues), Taulupe Faletau, Rhys Priestland
Wales hosted Australia in the first game of their Test series, but we’re unable to get the better of the Wallabies, who came out 21-29 winners at the Principality Stadium.
Warren Gatland’s men bounced back with a 13-6 win over Georgia, a game which saw Rhys Priestland make his first international appearance in 18 months. The Bath fly-half contributed eight points against a well-drilled Georgian side.
In their third game, Wales pushed New Zealand all the way, but just came up short going down 33-18 to the World Champions. It was a big day for Priestland, who came on as a replacement to win his 50th cap for his country.
Wales closed their four-match series with an impressive 24-22 victory against South Africa.
South Africa
Francois Louw
Francois Louw was back on international duty helping the Springboks to victories over France and Italy.
South Africa started with a 38-3 defeat against Ireland, but were back to winning ways with a 17-18 triumph over France in Paris. Louw was amongst the try scorers the following week, as the men in green and gold cruised to a 6-35 win against Italy in Padova.
Despite a late second-half comeback, the Springboks were edged out 24-22 in their final game of the Autumn Internationals against Wales in Cardiff.
