Elvis show wins round suspicious minds

Elvis Seveali’i went straight in at the top of Bath’s hit parade, sealing the victory which took the strugglers off the bottom of the Zurich Premiership table with his first touch of the ball in English rugby.

The Samoan international was signed unseen from New Zealand club Wellington but the gamble proved an instant winner.

Seconds after replacing right-wing Simon Danielli, who had scored the opening two tries in yesterday’s 30-9 home win over Saracens, Seveali’i raced from his own 22 for a spectacular try which secured a much-needed bonus point.

Bath co-coach Brian Smith said: “That was a magical first touch. We told him to keep it simple, no mistakes, just the basics, you don’t have to try and be a superstar...and obviously he hasn’t heard anything we said.”

Bath were offered the Samoan utility man by an agent after England full-back Iain Balshaw was once more sidelined by injury and Smith said: “We have brought him across on a trial basis. He’s playing for a contract.

“We went on a CV, a couple of phone references from people we have a high regard for in New Zealand and a highlights tape.

“He has been with us a week, probably still suffering from jetlag but we have thrown him into training and he has impressive enough to get into our 22 and a casualty of that was a guy like Tom Voyce who has played for his country.”

But while Seveali’i had the Bath fans rocking and rolling as they chanted “Elv-is, Elv-is,” defeat leaves Saracens just four points off the bottom of the table – and coach Wayne Shelford had harsh words for his big-name back division.

“Our backs didn’t turn up today,” complained Shelford, admitting that Bath’s spirited tackling never gave his centre pairing of French international Thomas Castaignede and Australian legend Tim Horan any room to play.

Shelford also intends to talk to former England A fly-half Andy Goode, who moved from champions Leicester last summer in a bid to become a first-team regular and improve his international prospects.

“Andy didn’t have one of his better games. He’s at the age – 22 – when he should be standing up and taking charge of the back line.

“He had a lot of credentials behind his name when he came here but he hasn’t backed that up consistently,” said Shelford, forced to leave out Fijian Nicky Little because of the limit on foreign players.

But the former All Blacks captain insists he is not to worried about the spectre of relegation for a side who play well at home but seem unable to perform away.

“We have another four games at home and we are more likely to be up for those than we are away,” he said.

Bath’s win put Newcastle back on the bottom of the table following their 13-12 defeat at Wasps and skipper Jonny Wilkinson, who came through after injuring his knee in England’s win over France the previous weekend, admitted: “We didn’t have that final surge to win it, so we deserved to lose.

“We could have got a penalty at the end and we would have won the game but you just have to go with that. That’s why the game can be so cruel, we’ve lost a few games like that.”

Victory took Wasps up to third but captain Lawrence Dallaglio was far from happy with his side’s unconvincing performance.

He said: “We contributed to our own difficulties, our skill levels were poor from a lot of players.

“You would not expect to see that from a club near the top of the table. It was important to stay calm with the game so close but we panicked a little in the last 10 minutes.”

But he added: “I’m still happy with the result. We’ve targeted a top-three finish and it’s in our own destiny. We will have to play significantly better and we know we can.”