Crowds here for years were treated to bruising encounters usually decided by uncompromising home forwards and the boot of an accurate goal-kicker, but Gloucester’s metamorphosis in the professional era has enabled them to win matches even when they are pushed around. They came from behind to defeat their west country rivals by using their heads and moved to third in the table.
Bath dominated in terms of territory and possession for the first hour, but their array of training-ground moves made little impact on the meanest defence in the Premiership and, unlike their opponents, they were unable to live off their wits. They looked like a side that needed a few days away from the parade ground.
Bath were on the trail of a third successive Premiership victory, something they had not managed for three years, a statistic the next two hours were to explain. They had won five of their previous six league matches here and for the first time were able to start Francois Louw, Taulupe Faletau and Sam Underhill together in the back row, two World Cup finalists and a Lion.
They made an immediate impact. Bath dictated the pace by controlling the breakdown where Louw and Underhill scented turnover opportunities and Faletau roamed the battleground with remarkable impact for someone making his second appearance of the season. Two of his passes nearly led to tries but Jamie Roberts knocked on and Anthony Watson looked inside rather than outside.
Bath were so much in control that their 9-7 interval lead was meagre. They had secured 68% of possession, helped by Gloucester making basic errors, Danny Cipriani twice missing touch after a penalty as he looked for the extra metres that would have put his forwards within a rolling maul of the line. But for all their flow and willingness to bring in runners from deep, there was something formulaic about their play, as if constantly referencing a manual.
It was dispiriting, given the pedigree of players in their side and their director of rugby, Stuart Hooper, will assess his options in the Champions Cup over the next two weekends “because although we cannot progress in Europe we can progress our game”.
Gloucester had less possession and missed the understated influence of their centre Mark Atkinson, but they were inventive and reactive. They opened the scoring against the run of play after four minutes, a patient move developing menace when Willi Heinz delayed his pass to draw Louw inside and put Franco Mostert through a hole on Bath’s 22.
The lock was tackled close to the line by Tom Homer, but Heinz found Jason Woodward on the right and the full-back stepped away from Homer and through Watson. Heinz held the defence all afternoon with not just the range of his passing but his ability to draw an opponent away from the point of danger. Bath had no equivalent.
For all their possession and pressure, Bath’s first-half reward came from the boot of Rhys Priestland who kicked three penalties and missed one from long range.
Bath tended to play in between Gloucester’s 22 and the halfway line, looking productive but not really going anywhere. One move ended when their centres, Roberts and Jonathan Joseph, got in each other’s way and another when the ball was thrown into touch.
They paid for their wastefulness three minutes after the restart when Gloucester broke out of their 22 and kicked to the line. Cipriani put a penalty into touch and after four players were held up near the line Freddie Clarke squirmed over. The conversion was almost in front of the posts but Cipriani, who had missed a first-half penalty, dragged his kick wide, allowing Priestland to equalise almost immediately with his fourth penalty and then regain the lead with his fifth.
Bath needed more, but half-breaks continued to lead nowhere and Gloucester went back in front when Gerbrandt Grobler scored their third try seconds after coming on to the field. Jake Polledri broke through the midfield following a lineout and looked certain to score before being foiled by Tom Dunn, but Gloucester only had to recycle to score.
Gloucester were now using their big ball-carriers to good effect and Polledri’s 20-metre, tackle-busting carry was followed by Ollie Thorley getting to within five metres of the line. Bath’s defence was then unable to cope with the force of Ruan Ackermann who surged through three tackles for the try bonus point. Billy Twelvetrees finished the scoring with a penalty.
