Like a group of oversized teenagers London Irish seem to have outgrown their home. The crowd burst on to one of the dead-ball lines at Sunbury to witness this extraordinary exhibition of attacking rugby.
In the next week London Irish are expected to announce a move to the Stoop, where they will share with Harlequins and where a crowd of 6,600 will not be standing cheek by jowl.
The Exiles are moving because they have failed to receive planning permission to convert Sunbury into a 15,000 all-seat stadium.
Irish did not just beat Bath in the league for the first time in 10 attempts, they annihilated them, and in so doing leapfrogged over last season's European champions into third place in the Premiership.
There were shades of the 62-14 drubbing of Harlequins here a year ago as the Exiles outscored Bath by seven tries to three.
"We knew Bath were on a bit of a roll so we got stuck into them from the kick-off. All we needed was a kicker," joked O'Shea. He was too modest to mention his otherwise flawless display from full-back.
His part in the final try summed up the Exiles' sense of adventure. When Mike Catt failed to find touch, the Irish scrum-half Peter Richards trapped the ball with his foot on the touch-line and flung a long pass to O'Shea, who was standing on his own 22. O'Shea's run bisected the two Bath centres, he chipped ahead, gathered the ball and flung out a pass to the New Zealander Richard Todd, who cruised in for his third try of the match.
The Exiles, of course, have an international look about them nowadays and O'Shea and Kevin Maggs of Bath were the only Irishmen to start the game. Dick Best, the Exiles' director of rugby said: "Originally there were five Irishmen in the side but injuries forced us into changes. But this club is not just about the first team. Tomorrow morning there will be around 400 kids here, mostly of Irish origin, coming on to the conveyor-belt. And I am trying to recruit Irishmen but the Irish Rugby Union's desire to bring their players home hasn't helped."
Scorers: London Irish: Tries: Todd 3, O'Shea, Hardwick, Berridge, Burrows. Conversions: O'Shea 3. Penalties: O'Shea 2. Bath: Tries: Tindall, Catt, Regan. Conversions: Catt 2. Penalty: Catt.
London Irish: O'Shea (capt); Berridge, Burrows, Venter, Todd; Bachop (Brown, 76 min), Richards (Campbell, 79); Rogers (Hatley, 53), Kirke, Hardwick (Fullman, 72), Bird (Feaunati, 72), Harvey, Boer, Gallacher, Strudwick.
Bath: Perry (T Adebayo, 79); Balshaw, Maggs, Tindall, A Adebayo; Catt, Cooper (Nicol, h-t); Hilton (Yates, h-t), Regan, Ubogu, Haag (Sturnham, h-t), Borthwick, Earnshaw (Webster, 59), Bryan, Lyle (capt).
Referee: B Campsall (Yorkshire).
