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Guy Pepper starred for Bath as they showed why they are top of the Premiership - Getty Image/Michael Steele
Bath 42 Gloucester 26
The sublime, the scruffy, a consummate Finn Russell performance and yet more excellence from an English openside flanker; this was a riotously entertaining West Country derby that contained just about everything.
Russell bagged 17 points for victorious Bath, comprising a close-range try and six conversions, but Guy Pepper was just as influential from the Bath back row. England’s glut of scavenging flankers is truly extraordinary.
Gloucester deserved their bonus point and would have gone into the interval level at 28-28 without Will Muir charging down a Santi Carreras conversion – one of several moments that caused jaws to drop. Another bizarre episode arrived in the 39th minute, when Carreras scuffed an elementary kick for touch.
That would have been comical enough, but Alfie Barbeary spilled the ball and then turned around to hoof it over the dead-ball area. The first half was not yet over, so the players needed to reconvene rather sheepishly for a Gloucester scrum.
Dwelling on the gaffes is churlish, because there was plenty of quality packed in. Pepper was exceptional. Wiry and combative, he combines relentless breakdown disruption with attacking opportunism. Still just 21, having traded Newcastle Falcons for Bath last summer, he has an immensely bright future ahead of him.
The Curry twins, Ben Earl and Henry Pollock were all picked by Steve Borthwick over the past two months and Jack Kenningham and Tom Pearson were unleashed for England A against Ireland. Sam Underhill returned from the ankle injury that wiped out his Six Nations in this fixture, coming off a formidable Bath bench to finally oust a defiant Gloucester.
Pepper is more than talented enough to be part of Borthwick’s plans. Johan van Graan saluted him as “magnificent” in the aftermath and the man himself acknowledged that the England tour of Argentina and the USA is on his radar.
“It’s in my sights,” he said “To be fair, the amount of sevens in the English game at the minute means that it’s probably one of the hardest positions to get picked in at the minute. Hopefully opportunities come around the corner, but the here and now is with Bath.”
Pepper certainly looked fully focussed on helping his club to consolidate their position at the top of the Premiership table. He opened the scoring by burrowing in for a steal in the shadow of Gloucester’s posts after a Bath foray appeared to have broken down. He pirouetted away with the ball and was driven over by Charlie Ewels and Thomas du Toit in an example of how the hosts’ pack flexed its muscle in the tight exchanges. Their scrum was strong, too.
Much later, in the final half hour, another Pepper contribution proved pivotal. Gloucester appeared to have halted Bath in midfield before Pepper emerged from the melee and tore directly up the middle and deep into the 22. The visitors scrambled and Christian Wade was collared for an offence on the floor. He saw yellow, which helped Bath to turn the screw.
Russell struck one beautiful 50:22 while Wade was in the bin and Will Stuart benefited from a runaway maul as Bath eventually made their one-man advantage pay. “I thought Bath strangled us in the second half,” admitted George Skivington, the Gloucester head coach. “We didn’t really fire any shots and, when we did, we weren’t accurate enough. It was frustrating, for sure.”
The first period had been a tit-for-tat shoot-out. On the back of Pepper’s try, Jack Clement finished a flowing Gloucester move before the impressive Max Ojomoh latched onto a Russell’s lovely offload. Du Toit then barged through the fringe defence to make it 21-7. Gloucester stayed in touch, though, Tomos Williams breaking off the shoulder of Seb Atkinson and then manufacturing a wonderful score for Seb Blake.
Russell went over himself from a quick-tap penalty and George Barton capitalised on the Barbeary mistake, but Bath tightened their grip in the second half and did not look likely to relinquish the win. Skivington gave a wry smile as he commended the depth of Van Graan’s squad.
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Finn Russell scores his side’s fourth try against Gloucester at the Rec on Sunday - PA/David Davies
Bath landed the Premiership Cup a week before this game and are improving their current roster with the addition of Carreras and others ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. If the new recruits hit the ground running the way that Pepper has done, they will be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come..
Team details
Bath: T de Glanville; R McConnochie, M Ojomoh, C Redpath (W Butt, 73), W Muir; F Russell, B Spencer (captain, L Schreuder, 67); B Obano (F van Wyk, 57), T Dunn (N Annett, 61), T du Toit (W Stuart, 40), Q Roux (T Hill, 57), C Ewels, J Bayliss (S Underhill, 57), G Pepper, A Barbeary (J Coetzee, 57)
Gloucester: G Barton (C Atkinson, 69(; C Wade, C Harris, S Atkinson, M Llewellyn (J Hathaway, 34); S Carreras, T Williams (C Englefield, 75); C Knight (V Rapava-Ruskin, 45), S Blake (J Singleton, 49), A Fasogbon (K Gotovtsev, 60), F Clarke (C Jordan, 60), F Thomas, J Clement, L Ludlow (captain), R Ackermann
Replacement not used: H Taylor
Referee: Sara Cox (England).
04:47 PM GMT
FULL TIME, Bath 42 Gloucester 26
Bath have the put in and kick the ball out to complete an important win. They retain a six-point cushion at the top of the table, while Gloucester’s losing bonus point keeps them right in the play-off mix.
04:45 PM GMT
Player of the match time
Guy Pepper gets the gong. He is an outstanding player. On the plane to Argentina this summer with England? I would have thought so.
04:43 PM GMT
76 minutes, Bath 42 Gloucester 26
Will Butt is on for Bath and goes straight up the middle of the pitch from a scrum after a lovely no-look pass from Ojomoh. Russell is in support but cannot hold onto the offload.
04:41 PM GMT
Try, Sam Underhill! Bath 42 Gloucester 26
That, I think, will be that. It’s close-range power from Bath again. They had the penalty advantage, and Underhill picks and goes to clinch this... surely. Russell’s conversion is good again. Six from six for him.
04:37 PM GMT
69 minutes, Bath 35 Gloucester 26
Charlie Atkinson is on for George Barton at full-back for Gloucester.
Ten minutes left, and Bath are putting on the squeeze. Freddie Thomas rises to nab a line-out, but Josh Hathaway spills.
04:31 PM GMT
66 minutes, Bath 35 Gloucester 26
Lively attack from Gloucester. Seb Atkinson really is a classy distributor.
04:29 PM GMT
64 minutes, Bath 35 Gloucester 26
Wade returns just after Russell pins back Gloucester again, causing Chris Harris and Santi Carreras to stage a magnificent escape.
Bath go wide, but the ball is flung into touch. Can Gloucester somehow regain a foothold?
04:28 PM GMT
63 minutes, Bath 35 Gloucester 26
It feels like Bath are rolling downhill now. Gloucester are doing so well to hang in this one.
04:27 PM GMT
Try, Will Stuart! Bath 35 Gloucester 26
Bath break the dam! Rapava-Ruskin was penalised for an overager jackal and the maul has enough this time. Will Stuart, the man of the moment, benefits.
Russell curls the conversion around beautifully.
04:23 PM GMT
57 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
More brilliance from Russell. Bath go off the top from the line-out and Russell steers the ball back against the grain and into the 22. It rolls wickedly over the touchline for a 50:22.
Gloucester respond, though. Their forwards muscle a maul turnover.
04:21 PM GMT
55 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Scary stuff from Bath. They’ve brought on Francois van Wyk, Ted Hill, Sam Underhill and Jaco Coetzee.
04:20 PM GMT
55 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Immensely dogged from Gloucester. Bath opted for a scrum and Spencer sniped. It appeared as though the forwards would shunt their way to another try but the ball came loose and Sara Cox signals for a knock-on.
04:17 PM GMT
Yellow card, Christian Wade!
A card was just about the only thing we hadn’t seen! Bath played the ball into midfield and appeared to have lost impetus but Guy Pepper emerged from the melee and charged to within five metres. Wade could not resist jackalling, but he was in an illegal body position and pays the price.
04:14 PM GMT
51 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Into the final half-hour. Spencer sends a penalty into touch just outside the Gloucester 22.
04:14 PM GMT
50 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Gloucester clear, Tom de Glanville runs it back... and that’s a fantastic jackal turnover from Rapava-Ruskin. He plucks the ball and flings it to his backline one-handed from the middle of the ruck.
04:12 PM GMT
49 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Excellent defence from Gloucester. Barbeary carried strongly but was halted and there is a knock-on.
Seb Blake is replaced by Jack Singleton. A change I forgot to tell you about at half-time, by the way. Will Stuart is on for Thomas du Toit.
04:11 PM GMT
47 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Better from Bath. They get up to nick the line-out and whip the ball wide with Max Ojomoh tearing over halfway. Gloucester infringe on the floor, so the hosts will set up a line-out inside the opposition 22...
04:09 PM GMT
46 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Bath free-kick at a scrum on their own 22. They clear to their own 10-metre line.
04:08 PM GMT
44 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
The collisions are ferocious out there. And this replacement is not going to ease that. Val Rapava-Ruskin is on for Ciaran Knight in the Gloucester front row.
04:06 PM GMT
42 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 26
It’s been a lively start to the second period. Alfie Barbeary had a big rumble and Russell found space with a grubber, but Gloucester have rallied and are in the Bath 22 after a breakdown turnover from Chris Harris.
04:05 PM GMT
Players back out
Here we go again.
04:05 PM GMT
Wonder-tries
Eight tries to choose from in the first period. This one from Jack Clement was a superb team move:
And this is Finn Russell at his best:
04:01 PM GMT
Match action
Apologies, but the wifi at The Rec is proving a bit tricky. Thanks for sticking with us. Here’s Will Muir’s charge-down of Santi Carreras’ conversion:
03:51 PM GMT
Try, George Barton! Bath 28 Gloucester 26
Gloucester get the bonus, too! In keeping with this first 40 minutes, it’s a frantic score.
Gloucester tried a wrap-around from the close-range scrum, which Bath were wise to. However, the hosts were then collared for a penalty. Afo Fasogbon tapped, and there was a fumble on the next phase. It travelled backwards, though, so Carreras was allowed to float a long pass over to Barton.
Carreras then converted. Four tries apiece, and 54 points in total. After all that, the teams are are only split by Will Muir’s remarkable charge down.
03:43 PM GMT
39 minutes, Bath 28 Gloucester 19
Gloucester are off again! Russell finds space in the back-field but Carreras covers and counters brilliantly, with Williams in support again. Bath scramble yet concede a penalty.
Oh wow. Carreras scruffs his touch-finder laughably, but Barbeary spills. We will end the half with a Gloucester put-in five metres out.
03:41 PM GMT
Try, Finn Russell! Bath 28 Gloucester 19
This has been a gripping first half and Bath have bagged a bonus already. Will Muir had a trundle out wide and Gloucester conceded a penalty as they retreated. Russell tapped and dived over to extend his team’s advantage.
03:39 PM GMT
Try, Seb Blake! Bath 21 Gloucester 19
Bang bang go Gloucester! Ruan Ackermann tore through from the restart and Williams was in close proximity. The Wales scrum-half stayed calm and jinked back inside before looping a fantastic one-handed pass to Seb Blake. The all-action hooker has caught the eye this afternoon. Carreras splits the posts this time.
03:37 PM GMT
Try, Tomos Williams! Bath 21 Gloucester 12
George Skivington’s charges are not lying down here. Some lovely footwork and a well-timed pass from Chris Harris allows Seb Atkinson to sneak through the defensive line and Williams is following up on a trademark support run!
We then have the biggest cheer of the day as Will Muir charges down Carreras’ conversion! That was extraordinary. The wing bolted from under his own posts - he is nicknamed ‘The Horse’ - and blocked the kick.
03:33 PM GMT
Try, Thomas du Toit! Bath 21 Gloucester 7
George Barton almost works something for Christian Wade down the Gloucester left but Bath regroup with brutal power. Some more excellent breakdown work from Guy Pepper allows Bath into enemy territory and Thomas du Toit surges off the shoulder of Spencer close to the ruck to score.
03:20 PM GMT
Try, Max Ojomoh! Bath 14 Gloucester 7
Gorgeous from Russell at close range. After his forwards muscle numerous scrum penalties, the Scotland fly-half calls for the ball, darts at the line and releases a flat offload to Ojomoh. The conversion is excellent as well.
03:16 PM GMT
16 minutes, Bath 7 Gloucester 7
Huge shove from Bath and I think Fasogbon is penalised there for turning in. Bath hit the corner and Charlie Ewels takes...
03:16 PM GMT
15 minutes, Bath 7 Gloucester 7
Carreras cannot hold onto Russell’s high ball. Back where we started: Bath scrum on the opposition 22.
03:15 PM GMT
14 minutes, Bath 7 Gloucester 7
Bath spread the ball from coast to coast, Finn Russell finding McConnochie with a kick-pass before Max Ojomoh flings a pass in the opposite direction. George Barton mops up a grubber through, so it’ll be a Gloucester drop-out.
03:14 PM GMT
13 minutes, Bath 7 Gloucester 7
Gloucester spill from the restart, so we will have a scrum put-in to Bath.
03:12 PM GMT
Try, Jack Clement! Bath 7 Gloucester 7
What a reply! That is a stunner from the visitors.
It all started with Santi Carreras dancing out of trouble in the back-field. He put George Barton through a gap and Christian Wade scuttled up to the Bath 22. Gloucester then spread the ball to their left, with Barton again prominent.
Afo Fasogbon found himself in the outside centre channel but didn’t panic and whipped a great pass for Clement to finish the move. Carreras converts and we are level.
03:10 PM GMT
8 mins, Bath 7 Gloucester 0
Gasps from the home crowd. Tomos Williams tries a shallow chip in the middle of the pitch and Russell clears it up after tapping the ball up into the air with one hand for himself to gather.
03:08 PM GMT
Try, Guy Pepper! Bath 7 Gloucester 0
Relentless pressure early on and Gloucester cannot resist.
Bath won another breakdown penalty there, with Freddie Clarke adjudged not to have released the tackled player before jackalling.
The hosts went to the corner and played off the top. It got a bit scrappy but Pepper collected the loose ball and was driven over by some fellow forwards.
03:06 PM GMT
3 mins: Bath 0 Gloucester 0
Frantic start. Ruaridh McConnochie shoots out of the line and makes a strong tackle behind the gain-line. Bath pile in to win a penalty and Alfie Barbeary is off! He taps and chips ahead... Bath supporters want a penalty for him being taken out but it’s just a goal-line drop-out.
03:04 PM GMT
2 mins: Bath 0 Gloucester 0
Bath keep their composure, Spencer clears long and there is a knock-on from Gloucester at the line-out.
03:02 PM GMT
1 min: Bath 0 Gloucester 0
Excellent start from Gloucester as Max Llewellyn nails Alfie Barbeary off the kick-off.
02:59 PM GMT
Players out
They’re greeted by some pyrotechnics. Of course. Gloucester will be kicking off.
02:57 PM GMT
Shout-out to the flag-bearers
Juniors from Wimbledon RFC are welcoming the players onto to the pitch. That’s my old club, so they’re having a shout-out.
02:55 PM GMT
This afternoon’s referee
Sara Cox is in charge today. Joe James and Jonathan Healy will be running touch.
02:54 PM GMT
Spencer lays down the law
Bath were just huddled up right in front of me, with skipper Spencer addressing his players in a forthright manner. They then turned for a half-lap that fired up the home fans. Five minutes until kick-off now.
02:51 PM GMT
Mixer
Nice little feature. There’s a typically bouncy atmosphere here.
02:48 PM GMT
15 minutes to go...
I am particularly interested by the battle of the midfields today. Gloucester have gone for Santi Carreras - the Bath-bound Santi Carreras, of course - at fly-half with Seb Atkinson at inside centre and Chris Harris beyond him. Max Llewellyn will roam off the left wing a fair bit, no doubt.
Even without Ollie Lawrence, Bath have got Finn Russell at fly-half with Cameron Redpath and Max Ojomoh as a centre partnership. Will Butt, enjoying a breakthrough season is on the bench.
02:40 PM GMT
Gunning for a double
During the Six Nations, Bath bagged the Premiership Rugby Cup by beating Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park. They’re after the league as well, of course.
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02:37 PM GMT
Line-ups
I am informed that there are no changes and the teams are as announced earlier this week.
Bath: T de Glanville; R McConnochie, M Ojomoh, C Redpath, W Muir; F Russell, B Spencer (captain); B Obano, T Dunn, T du Toit, Q Roux, C Ewels, J Bayliss, G Pepper, A Barbeary
Replacements: N Abbett, F van Wyk, W Stuart, T Hill, S Underhill, L Schreuder, W Butt, J Coetzee
Gloucester: G Barton; C Wade, C Harris, S Atkinson, M Llewellyn; S Carreras, T Williams; C Knight, S Blake, A Fasogbon, F Clarke, F Thomas, J Clement, L Ludlow (captain), R Ackermann
Replacements: J Singleton, V Rapava-Ruskin, K Gotovtsev, C Jordan, H Taylor, C Englefield, C Atkinson, J Hathaway
02:29 PM GMT
Hi there
Hello and welcome to our text commentary of the West Country derby, live from The Rec. I am in situ as the players are warming up.
There’s a long conversation going on right in front of me between David Flatman and Trevor Woodman, the 2003 World Cup winner and now a valued member of the Gloucester backroom staff. I wonder if the subject of scrums has been broached at all.
Now Ben Spencer, the Bath scrum-half, has called up to the scoreboard operator, who is in the same stand as the press box, asking them to fix the clock. It really is all go… and it really isn’t all glamour. But this should be a belter.
Besides the question of local bragging rights, this game is a crucial one in the context of the play-off race. Bath remain top of the league by a single point, despite Bristol Bears ousting Exeter Chiefs in a frankly insane contest at Ashton Gate yesterday. Gloucester have dropped one place to fifth, with Harlequins overtaking them thanks to a famous victory over Saracens at Tottenham Hotspur.
That Saracens defeat, however, represents a huge chance for Gloucester. Win this one and they will have drastically strengthened their prospects of finishing in the top four for the first time since 2019, when Danny Cipriani steered them to third.
George Skivington’s side have played some seriously attractive stuff this term and they are welcoming back a certain Afolabi Fasogbon to their starting pack this afternoon. The 20-year-old tighthead prop really is an exciting talent. He is returning for the first time since picking up a knee injury just before Christmas.
England listed him as ‘unavailable’ in their Six Nations squad, which suggests that Fasogbon is very much in their thinking for the summer tour. He is currently standing on the 22 with his arms folded waiting for Gloucester to go through some scrummaging. About half an hour until kick-off now.
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