Bath have been waiting a long time for nights like this. A first major trophy for 17 years – and only their second since they lifted the Heineken Cup in 1998 – was also secured with a swagger reminiscent of the club’s golden era. With the Premiership title still up for grabs next month, a potential treble-winning season is now within their grasp.
While the Premiership Cup and the Challenge Cup might not, in isolation, be the most prestigious competitions in the professional club game, there is no doubting Bath’s increasing durability under screeching knockout pressure. That said, they were lucky with a couple of contentious officiating calls which, had they gone the other way, might have made life appreciably harder.
