A couple of minutes later Brad Davies the Gloucester stand-off hoisted a kick which carried no menace until Roger

A couple of minutes later Brad Davies, the Gloucester stand-off, hoisted a kick which carried no menace until Roger Warren, who had just replaced Ross Broadfoot, completely misjudged it.Warren missed the catch and the bouncing ball was then knocked on by Alex Brown, the Gloucester lock, an infringement which escaped the referee’s attention. “There might have been an initial contact but everyone was agreed that Jake milked it,” Kay said.In that case Leicester – remember Neil Back’s “hand of God” against Munster in the 2002 Heineken Cup final – were hoist by their own petard. “If I’d been a Gloucester player I’d have patted Jake on the back and said ‘well done’,” Kay added.Boer’s exit from the line-out was the trigger for a period of intense pressure from Gloucester, during which they scored 14 points and benefited from a couple of controversial decisions. Winning a stream of penalties and opting for the line-out and rolling maul route, the Cherry and Whites, who had been heavily penalised during a dire first half which was illuminated only by Tom Varndell’s try, suddenly found themselves in Ashley Rowden’s good books.The referee sent Brett Deacon, the Tigers’ flanker, to the sin-bin for “lifting a player’s legs”, a ruling which left Kay amused and the crowd incensed. Ben Kay, standing in as captain for Martin Johnson, suggested after this rare and bitter defeat that Leicester had been conned out of the Powergen Cup by an unthinkable act from Jake Boer – the rugby equivalent of a player taking a dive. Bedford: Try Tonga’uiha; Penalty Hinton.Northampton: J Clarke; J Rudd, M Tucker (N Starling, 61), M Stcherbina, W Human; P Grayson (S Drahm, 73), M Robinson (J Howard, 64); C Budgen (S Emms, 67), S Thompson (capt; J van Wyk, 73), R Morris (B Sturgess, 67), G Seely, D Browne, R Beattie, M Soden, B McNamee (D Richmond, 56).Bedford: L Hinton; B Whetstone, M Staten, M Allen (capt), C Moir (J Hinkins, 77); A Hepher (D Malone, 67), I Vass; M Volland (S Tonga’uiha, 61), C Johnson (M Price, 77), M Stewart (J Brooks, 19), J Phillips (A Phillips, 77), A Brenton, N Strauss, J Paramore (S Brady, 67), B Lewitt.Referee: R Debney (Leicestershire)..

And, more importantly, solvent.Saints have their eyes on different prizes – the Powergen, the Zurich, the Heineken: any of the baubles at the disposal of the dozen elite outfits. In the meantime, of course – but without anyone admitting it – they expect the labyrinthine rules of promotion and relegation to save them if it comes to that. Their head coach Budge Pountney has “run out of fingers and toes” counting the injuries sustained in pursuit of the pots Fewer matches would be one answer. If their supporters are prepared to stomach the reduced status, they and others like them in National League One can act as a nursery for the pro teams, providing somewhere to play for those surplus to the moneyed ones’ requirements.As Bedford’s coach, Rudi Straeuli, put it: “We have youngsters who are good enough to go into the Premiership, and others who are heading for retirement.” Among the former category is a 22-year-old New Zealand Under-21 and Pacific Islands Test prop, Soane Tonga’uiha, who will surely be signed up elsewhere soon Bedford might finish fourth this season. Whither the Powergen, then?Northampton: Tries Rudd, Tucker, Clarke 2, Human, Seely; Conversions Grayson 3, Drahm; Penalty Grayson. Bedford conceded three or four successive penalties at the breakdown, and had a lock, Arthur Brenton, sent to the sin bin, at which moment their neighbours fashioned an easy try through the threequarters.

Five more Northampton tries later and the hosts, missing nine first-choice players and bottom of the Premiership, were comfortably through to the last eight of a tournament which gets more loaded in the big boys’ favour every year.Whither Bedford, then? They already support their senior partner’s A league team, and had 13 former Saints in their 22. But they do not fit into the increasingly hermetically sealed big-time Premiership because, having tried and failed once to spend their way in, they do not wish to be hurt again. Two clubs, separated by 20 miles, existing in different worlds.
So we had a Powergen Cup tie which ended with Northampton making the right noises about giving it the gun for 60 minutes, then assessing the situation, when to neutral eyes the match was over after a quarter of an hour. Harlequins: Try Staunton; Conversion Staunton.Bath: R Davis (L Best, 72); A Higgins (T Cheeseman, 72), F Welsh, O Barkley, B Daniel; C Malone, M Baxter (S Alford, 79); M Stevens (D Barnes, 69), J Humphreys (capt; L Mears, 34), D Bell, S Borthwick, R Fidler, (D Grewcock, 54), J Scaysbrook, I Fea’unati, M Lipman (G Lewis, 79).Harlequins: T Williams; D James, W Greenwood (G Duffy, 63), M Deane, S Keogh; J Staunton (A Jarvis, 57), S So’oialo; M Worsley (J Dawson, 69), T Fuga (A Tiatia, 49), C Jones, R Winters (S Miall, 79), S Maling, N Easter, T Diprose, A Vos (capt).Referee: N Owen (WRFU).. Andre Vos remained stubbornly disruptive in the rucks, slowing Bath’s ball, and the All Black lock Simon Maling proved adept at stealing line-out ball, but for Quins the season has been reduced to a long struggle against relegation.”We approach the season in blocks – Heineken Cup and Zurich Premiership – and this match didn’t fit into either,” Connolly said, though with six difficult matches to come and a squad ravaged by injury, he may come to view the next three Powergen Cup matches as vital for securing European rugby next season.Bath: Tries Higgins, Mears, Cheeseman; Conversions Barkley 3; Penalties Barkley 4. Otherwise the match was an almost continuous sequence of blunders, dropped passes, fumbles and far too many curious decisions by the referee Nigel Owen.The Powergen Cup may be the lesser of the trophies on offer but it certainly deserved better than some rather bizarre officiating and great expanses of empty seats in the stands. Just inside his own 22 and near the gain-line he fired a pass out to the centre but Jeremy Staunton, Quins’ own fly-half, had read the favoured play of Bath so early, probably on Thursday from detailed notes, that he picked off the pass for an easy score.Unfortunately, Tom Williams returned the gesture.

The Bath public were remarkably unmoved by the match and decided to shop rather than support.The second half was the rout, with Barkley kicking three penalties before Steve So’oialo was consigned to the sin bin in the 63rd minute, allowing Lee Mears and Tom Cheeseman to add the final scores. Olly Barkley hoisted a long, exploratory kick to Quins’ right corner and, while Williams fiddled, Andrew Higgins burned up the touchline to beat the full-back to the touchdown.Two scores, two gifts – and they were the highlights. “It was the kind of match where you want to get in, play the game and then get out,” explained Bath’s director of rugby John Connolly after his side had comprehensively beaten a poor and dispirited Harlequins. London Irish: Penalties Mapletoft 2; Drop goal Catt.Worcester: T Delport; D O’Leary (P Sampson, 53), D Rasmussen (T Hayes, 66), T Lombard, G Pieters; J Brown, M Powell; T Windo (capt; L Fortey, 63), A van Niekerk, C Horsman, T Collier, C Gillies, S Viali (L Fortey, 25-33), B MacLeod-Henderson, D Hickey.London Irish: M Horak; J Bishop, G Appleford (K Barrett, 54-58), M Catt, S Staniforth; M Mapletoft (B Everitt, 52), P Hodgson; D Wheatley, R Russell (D Paice, 69), R Hardwick, N Kennedy (R Strudwick, 63), B Casey, D Danaher, Phil Murphy (R Reid, 60), K Dawson (capt; P Gustard, 60).Referee: H Watkins (Neath).. And while Worcester can be commended for forcing an 82nd-minute penalty try from a close-range scrum, converted by the scrum-half Matt Powell, they and English rugby in general found little else to cheer in this contest.Worcester: Try Penalty try; Conversion Powell. Everything in English rugby’s garden is lovely.