The longest-standing derby in the Premiership produced a suitably old-fashioned contest, ultimately edged by Gloucester to condemn Bath to a fifth straight defeat of the season. It was not the kind of try-fest we are becoming accustomed to – it was pretty scrappy, truth be told – but no less entertaining and confirmation that Johann van Graan has his work cut out to turn Bath’s fortunes around.
As has often been the case this season Bath fought their way back into the contest, having been down by 14 points, but their second-half recovery ultimately fell short to leave them still winless and propping up the table.
Had Orlando Bailey not missed two conversions maybe they would have squeezed over the line but their desperate lineout – giving up seven – was far more costly. On the plus side Ollie Lawrence was exceptional on his debut, having made the move from Worcester, Joe Cokanasiga carried with real intent in a performance that will have pleased Eddie Jones, and there was plenty of commitment in a strong second-half showing. There is an absence of confidence among the players, however, that will only be fixed when they finally manage to secure victory.
That is a habit Gloucester have developed and this is a second narrow win of the season. They were denied at the death by Saracens last time out but showed composure to ensure they prevailed as Bath went through more than 20 phases at the end, with the man of the match, Ruan Ackermann, coming up with the key turnover for the visitors.
Gloucester struggled under the high ball, were shown three yellow cards and this was nowhere near the kind of emphatic showing they produced when thumping Bath 64-0 towards the end of last season, but their coach, George Skivington, will not mind about that.
“To defend 25 phases and not give a penalty away is outstanding,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to win ugly and that’s what [the players] did.
“We’ve just won a local derby away from home and everyone will take that but our expectations are higher than what we delivered.”
Slow starts have been a feature of Bath’s season and this was no different. Starting the campaign with four defeats has evidently created a nervousness in the ranks and the opening 10 minutes were full of hesitancy.
Gloucester seem far more comfortable in their own skin and only too aware of their strengths – namely their driving maul, which was such an effective weapon last season and has clearly not been blunted this term. By the 20-minute mark they had two tries, both from mauls, finished off by a pair of Argentinians in Matías Alemanno and Santiago Socino.
The second came just after the Bath loosehead prop Juan Schoeman had been shown a yellow card for a cynical infringement – a sign of the desperation already creeping in. Numerical parity was soon restored, however, when Albert Tuisue was sent to the sin-bin for a no-arms tackle on Tom Ellis off the ball and Bath, after opting to pick and go, were on the scoreboard when Miles Reid barged his way to the line.
If it was a foothold for Bath it was little more and Gloucester reasserted their authority with a third try (and a second for Alemanno) after a strong carry from the impressive Mark Atkinson and some pretty soft defending.
Bath’s afternoon got worse when Piers Francis was added to their lengthy injury list but they were offered a route back into the match when Gloucester’s Ben Meehan was shown a yellow card for a high tackle just before the break. It allowed Bath to begin the second half on the front foot and their second try finally came through Tom Dunn after a prolonged period of pressure in the Gloucester 22.
Another yellow card for Gloucester, this time Ruan Ackermann, was evidence Bath were in the ascendancy and Niall Annett’s 64th-minute try from a driving lineout brought the hosts back to within four points. But another missed conversion by Bailey left his side seeking another try they were unable to find.
There are signs of improvement, and they did keep Gloucester scoreless in the second half, but a first win of the season cannot come soon enough.
