London Welsh 14 Bath 29, Aviva Premiership match report: Another dismal defeat seals relegation

There were moments at the virtually empty Kassam Stadium on Sunday that it felt like the end of days, so grim were the conditions and the rugby on offer to the paltry crowd.

And while the sun eventually did add a splash of colour as the monsoon conditions eased, by the final whistle time was called on London Welsh’s miserable Premiership campaign.

This was the Exiles’ 18th successive Premiership defeat and like a vet’s big needle, had the effect of putting the club out of their misery by confirming their relegation to the Championship next season.

Bath, who rested their England quartet of George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson and Dave Attwood, were still able to run in five tries to move up to third in the Premiership table without hitting anywhere near their top gear.

The Exiles are on course to equal Rotherham’s record, set in 2003, of losing all 22 games of their Premiership campaign, and now many doubts hang over the club’s future.

Justin Burrell has already paid the price by losing his job earlier this month, with Rowland Phillips replacing him as head coach.

•Manu Tuilagi likely to miss rest of the season with groin injury

Now a host of players are also poised to jump ship next season, including their powerhouse No 8 Opeti Fonua, who is joining Leicester, while the club’s board are thought to be split about whether to remain in Oxford or return to Old Deer Park next season.

The Exiles’ plight has only served to strengthen the hand of those Premiership clubs who believe there should at least be a moratorium placed on promotion from the Championship if the Premiership is expanded to 14 clubs.

Phillips, who admitted he was not yet certain whether he would still be in charge next season, insisted that the club’s ambition to return to the top flight next season had not been indelibly tarnished by the pain of this campaign.

•Steve James: Why I was wrong about London Welsh

“At this club we are too proud as people to just switch off and wait for the summer holidays,” Phillips said.

“Building for next season has to start now. The mindset for us has to be to improve every week. We will sit down next week to review this game and discuss the future.

“The key is how you learn your lessons and obviously you can say that we didn’t learn them last time but certainly the ambition is as great as ever.

“The real honest ambition of the club will always be portrayed on the field and today you saw 23 guys put their life and soul onto the pitch and that to me shows that there is a response to this club so that the future is bright.”

^{Rebuilding job: London Welsh head coach Rowland Phillips is looking to the future}

If Bath’s display is unlikely to have caused much consternation to Leinster ahead of next Saturday’s Champions’ Cup quarter-final, Mike Ford insisted his side would have a completely different mindset in Dublin, with Wales prop Paul James expected to return along with the four England players.

“It has got to be,” Ford said. “We are not favourites next week. We have come from nowhere in Europe to give ourselves a shot.

“The four [England] boys who played in Dublin a few weeks ago have already given us a lot of tips of what to do and how to play the Irish there and they have come back more experienced.

“It was good to get a tough game under our belts in those conditions but I think next week will be a completely different spectacle. We are certainly going to Dublin to play and we can’t wait to get to training tomorrow.”

Many will argue London Welsh’s fate was sealed at the end of last season when they were given only weeks to assemble a Premiership squad on a budget of less than half of most their top-flights rivals.

Their fate against Bath was sealed by half-time when they trailed 10-7 despite playing with the benefit of the at-times gale-force gusts of wind.

There was a rare moment of celebration when centre Nic Reynolds went over for a try from a delayed pass by Tristian Roberts, after a couple of powerful charges by Fonua, who should make a significant impact at Welford Road next season.

^{Central battle: Sam Burgess fends off Nic Reynolds}

By that stage however the Exiles were already 10 points down to tries by Rob Webber and Leroy Houston, both from close range line-outs. Given the atrocious conditions they were playing into, there was little else Bath could do.

Ollie Devoto kicked their first four penalties to the corner, with Webber touching down for the opening try.

Bath were soon able to double their lead when Houston raced over from a popped pass by Dominic Day at the front of a line-out, although the throw by Webber in the wind was far from straight.

The rest of the half was little more than a mud fight, with the monsoon conditions making it almost impossible to string more than one pass together.

It was only a matter of time before Bath turned the screw, even though the conditions that they had battled into during the first half became less challenging, with glimpses of sunshine even adding a splash of colour to what was otherwise a pretty dire contest.

Bath’s third try came from another line-out, although on this occasion, it was moved wide, with Houston making hard yards before Carl Fearns put Sam Burgess into space and the former rugby league player showed great strength to power through four tackles to score his second Premiership try since switching codes last October.

Houston barged over for his second try from close range while Alafoti Faosiliva added Bath’s third in a similar fashion.

Fonua’s second try from the back of a rolling maul was greeted only by ironic cheers. It was grim stuff. But then it has been that kind of season for London Welsh.