With half an hour remaining, Goode reduced the arrears to only four points when he fired over a splendid drop-goal from close on 50 metres.
Had Chris Cook gathered a potential interception chance and George Ford – who had already landed two splendid drop-goals – not narrowly missed a third effort, Michalak's late strike following a ruck offence by Bath might have brought only partial salvation.
Suddenly the game changed, and Stade won comfortably enough in the end, with Martin Rodríguez kicking 17 of their points through four penalties from five attempts, a simple conversion of an opportunist try for Guillaume Bousses, and a splendid long-range drop goal.
Nadal takes the advantage again, prompting Murray to shout "Stay on your forehand!" at himself, before getting it back to deuce with a splendid stretch for a drop-shot to foil an attempted Nadal pass.
But he's nearly deaf and has gone a bit soft," and after a bit he adds, "People don't deserve such a splendid house, now, when they're dropping bombs on everything".
Fall is a splendid time to visit the Big Apple.
They had brains enough this week not to drop any of their usual hints about what a splendid president Mr. Bloomberg would make despite his public insistence that he has no interest in the job.
It was a splendid demonstration of the shortest form of the game, producing from the drop-in pitch 23 sixes, which in essence is what it is all about.
Have a splendid Easter weekend.
This building, a splendid.
