Ollie Lawrence touched down for Bath’s third try, securing a try bonus point for the home side before the interval.
The Prem
Bath (28) 38
Tries: De Glanville, Dunn, Lawrence, Richards (2) Cons: Russell (5) Pens: Russell
Gloucester (7) 17
Tries: Joseph, Thorley, Loader Cons: Byrne
Bath have ascended to the top of the Premiership table following a decisive victory over West Country rivals Gloucester at the Recreation Ground.
The home team welcomed back British and Irish Lions Finn Russell and Will Stuart for their first appearances of the season, with fly-half Russell proving instrumental in Tom de Glanville’s early try.
Further first-half scores from Tom Dunn, Ollie Lawrence, and Ewan Richards extended Bath’s lead, before Will Joseph finally put Gloucester on the scoreboard.
Ben Loader’s try early in the second half offered Gloucester a glimmer of hope, following excellent work from Joseph, but Richards’ second try extinguished any comeback aspirations.
Both teams entered the match with injury concerns, particularly Gloucester, who were missing 14 players, including Jack Singleton, Lewis Ludlow, and Arthur Clark.
Bath capitalized on Gloucester’s missing experience early on, with De Glanville scoring the opening try.
Russell’s tackle in midfield dislodged the ball, allowing Lawrence to kick ahead. Henry Arundell then outpaced two Gloucester defenders to secure the ball and offload to De Glanville, who expertly dotted down.
Bath’s second try followed swiftly, with Dunn benefiting from a rolling maul in the Gloucester 22, inching closer to the try line.
The home team, sensing an opportunity, scored their third try soon after.
Arundell evaded a tackler in midfield, kicked ahead, and regathered before offloading to Tom Carr-Smith.
The scrum-half was unable to reach the line, but Bath recycled the ball, and with Gloucester’s defense still scrambling, Lawrence slipped through to extend Bath’s lead.
Returning from a period on the sidelines, Finn Russell was instrumental in Bath’s early scores.
A fourth try seemed inevitable, and when it came, it was irresistible, bearing Russell’s hallmark.
Following a Gloucester infringement, the fly-half promptly kicked ahead. Ross Byrne was unable to gather, and Richards kicked through before regathering to slide over the line.
Gloucester salvaged some pride through Joseph’s inspired solo score as half-time approached, but it had been a chastening 40 minutes for the Cherry and Whites.
In a moment of indiscretion, Russell kicked the ball while lying in the ruck following the restart and received a yellow card, but Gloucester were unable to immediately capitalize, losing the ball at the subsequent lineout.
With Bath’s new attack coach, Martin Gleeson, observing, the home side made changes, but the new additions were unable to prevent a second Gloucester try.
A simple set-piece move saw a miss-pass find Ollie Thorley on the outside, allowing him to stride over with Bath’s 14 men stretched.
A comeback appeared possible when Loader scored in the corner following a burst from the electric Joseph, but further reinforcements, including former Cherry and Whites Santi Carreras and Chris Harris, swung the momentum back in Bath’s favor.
First, Russell settled the nerves with a close-range penalty before the hugely impressive Richards powered through following a break from Miles Reid, as the Gloucester defense faltered.
Bath believed they had secured a sixth try through Joe Cokanasiga, but it was ruled out for an earlier knock-on. Gloucester suffered a further blow when Seb Atkinson was forced off late on, adding to George Skivington’s already extensive injury list.
The result places Gloucester in eighth, two points ahead of bottom-placed Newcastle Red Bulls.
Bath head coach Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol:
“We’re very happy with that. I thought our first 20 minutes were excellent. We were clinical, we kept on turning them around, we had control, we scored some fantastic tries.
“We were really positive tonight, [it was] unfortunate about the try just before half-time. The yellow card put us under pressure, but I thought our impact [players] at the end of the game did really well and we controlled the game for the 80 minutes.”
Bath second-row Ewan Richards spoke to BBC Radio Bristol:
“I had to fill some big boots, [with] Quinn Roux missing, Charlie Ewels and Ted Hill also. I took my chance. I love being out here with the boys; it’s special when it’s at home and a derby day.”
On scoring his second try, Richards said:
“I wasn’t really expecting it, but I just ran hard. Luckily the ball bounced, I kicked it through and I got on the end of it. It was Finn who did the hard work, and me just running through the line.”
Gloucester head coach George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:
“It was a tough first half; they had all of the pressure, all the momentum. We were camped in our own 22.
“We had a good chat at half-time, and for that first 20 minutes of the second half the boys really changed the momentum of the game and put a lot of pressure on Bath.
“We had some opportunities to get that fourth try, but we weren’t quite accurate enough, and at the end Bath had a flurry.
“Ultimately, there are areas where we’re just not accurate enough at the moment. We’re not going to pretend that we’re fizzing yet; we’re not.
“There are moments, and I think some of the players, like Will Joseph, are starting to find their feet now and [establish] combinations.”
Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Ojomoh, Arundell; Russell (c), Carr-Smith; Obano, Dunn, Stuart, Richards, Molony, Pepper, Underhill, Bayliss.
Replacements: Tuipulotu, van Wyk, du Toit, Reid, Barbeary, le Roux, Carreras, Harris.
Yellow card: Russell.
Gloucester: C. Atkinson; Loader, Joseph, S. Atkinson, Thorley; Byrne, Williams (c); Knight, Blake, Laulala, Jordan, Alemanno, Thomas, Venter, Basham.
Replacements: Innard, McArthur, Fasogbon, Bokenham, Mann, Taylor, Englefield, Edwards-Giraud.
Referee: Karl Dickson
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