Mistaken identity was the buzzword yesterday as Newcastle prepared to launch an appeal against the late sending-off of their young No8 Phil Dowson for punching. Potential embarrassment looms for the match officials but Bath's primary concern will be the unrecognisable rabble masquerading as their first team.
Any resemblance between the committed side which reached last year's Zurich Premiership grand final and the defensively inept bunch involved on Saturday was hard to spot, so much so that the head coach John Connolly ordered them in for extra training at 10am yesterday.
It did not require a detailed look at the video to analyse where Bath fell down: too many players missed too many tackles and Newcastle, who scored three tries in the first 25 minutes, could easily have won by a far wider margin. Even England's Mike Tindall had a shocker, with Connolly admitting his World Cup-winning centre is "struggling" to find any semblance of form.
"You can't just accept a performance like that and do nothing about it," rasped Connolly, also acknowledging that two early defeats was a concern. On this evidence, and minus Olly Barkley with a twisted ankle, there is a real chance of Worcester beating them this weekend.
The only home consolation was a sense that the Falcons will make mincemeat of a few more teams this season, with Jonny Wilkinson looking increasingly comfortable behind a rumbling pack and Tom May, Jamie Noon and Michael Stephenson running hard outside.
If this was May's week, the wing finishing with two well-taken tries to help secure a bonus point, seven tries in their first two games - both away from home - will also delight their director of rugby Rob Andrew. For those who like a good omen, the last time his Falcons' side won at Bath in 1997-98 they lifted the title.
This week, though, some disciplinary scrambling will be required. Quite how a fight which clearly involved Bath's Andy Beattie, Steve Borthwick and Gareth Delve ended in not one home player being cautioned was very strange. While Dowson did throw a couple of punches towards the end of the fracas, the view in the visitors' dressing room was that he missed with both of them.
"We think there was mistaken identity, and that the touch judge got the numbers wrong, so we'll just have to wait and have a look," said Andrew, whose team finished with 13 men after May was also yellow-carded following the same isolated bust-up. "I don't think there was merit in any of the cards really. We'll deal with it through the proper channels and hopefully sort it out."
Bath: Maddock; Crockett (Fleck, 46), Tindall, Davey, Daniel; Malone, Wood (Walshe, 74); Barnes, Humphreys (capt; Mears, 45), Bell (Stevens, 22), Borthwick, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman (Scaysbrook, 55), Feaunati (Delve, 74).
Tries: Borthwick, Daniel 2. Pen: Malone.
Newcastle: Shaw (Burke, 67); May, Noon, Mayerhofler, Stephenson; Wilkinson (co-capt), Grindal (Charlton, 67); Peel (co-capt; Ward, 31), Long (Thompson, 55), Hurter, Gross (Hamilton, 60), Grimes, McCarthy (Setiti, 60), Charvis, Dowson.
Tries: McCarthy, May 2, Stephenson. Cons: Wilkinson 2. Pen: Wilkinson. Drop goals: Wilkinson 2.
Sin-bin: Gross 33, May 80.
Sent off: Dowson.
Referee: S Lander (RFU).
Attendance: 10,400.
