Bath coach Steve Meehan praises attitude but demands improvement

Bath head coach Steve Meehan praised his players' attitude following the 32-16 bonus-point victory at Aviva Premiership rivals Leeds but demanded a big improvement on their performance.

Meehan's men rarely hit the heights expected of them this season but still took their chances in clinical fashion and were certainly too good for their hosts.

Full-back Nick Abendanon touched down in the first half before Sam Vesty, Matt Carraro and captain Luke Watson added scores after the break to secure the maximum five-point haul.

Meehan said: "Yes, we got five points away from home but the performance is something that we need to improve on. Our set-piece must get better but when your work ethic is high and you're determined to perform, you've still got a chance of winning. From an attitude point of view we were very happy."

Meehan also paid tribute to Matt Banahan after his impressive performance in the centre alongside Shontayne Hape. The 23-year-old wing switched positions after Olly Barkley withdrew through injury before kick-off.

Leeds were outclassed but had the consolation of a bonus point from England hooker Steve Thompson on his debut. Director of rugby Andy Key urged his side to cut out their errors and admitted Bath showed their class with three second-half tries.

Key - who lost fly-half Ceiron Thomas to a shoulder injury in the second half - said: "We felt very strong at half-time and the chat in the changing room was very positive. It's the first game of the season and there are no worries from our side, but we cannot keep giving away tries like that."

Meanwhile, Northampton earned the early-season East Midlands bragging rights as tries from props Soane Tonga'uiha and Brian Mujati paved the way for an opening-round win over champions Leicester at Franklin's Gardens.

Tonga'uiha crossed twice in the opening five minutes as Saints made a blistering start to lead 17-0 before Alesana Tuilagi's converted try got the visitors on the scoreboard before the break.

Leicester were left facing an uphill task, however, when Mujati touched down on the hour mark, and while Scott Hamilton crossed twice late on, and Stephen Myler lost his radar, the hosts held on to win 27-19 in front of a 13,500 capacity crowd.

England team manager Martin Johnson looked concerned as Toby Flood limped out of the game shortly before the break, but otherwise he had plenty to be pleased with in this bruising encounter.