Bath Rugby 17-10 Gloucester Rugby: Three-try hosts hold on for Gallagher Premiership win

Two tries from Tom de Glanville led Bath to a 17-10 win in the West Country derby and helped consign Gloucester to a club-achieving ninth successive defeat.

Gloucester started the game brightly and Ruan Ackerman took a ball from Zach Mercer following a top penalty and looked to score.

De Glanville exchanged passes with Will Muir before diving in the corner after half an hour.

Just after half-time, Muir scored a freaky try when his grubber kick played to Gaolan Englefield, who raced down to touch down.

After a long period of pressure, Bath counted in their favor following Joe Koganasika's interception, the ball being won by de Glanville, who easily weaved through tired opposition defenders to score his second goal.

Finn Russell's errant kicks kept the game within one score, but a poor pass from opposite number Bath number 10 and fellow Scotsman Adam Hastings ended Gloucester's chances.

The win lifted Bath back up to third in the table. Glocester is second down.

There was no mistaking the intensity of Gloucester's play or their determination to dig in, with 153 tackles made and the number of times they held the line up to Bath confirming this. However, in a derby match in which they conceded 16 penalties — 12 of which were a deficit — fought under difficult conditions, they found it almost impossible to reverse their losing slump. Legendary Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll spoke about it after the game on TNT Sports: „Speed ​​can be against you. It's a killer. Discipline is very important for the defensive side of the game and that's the ruck they have. To settle.” Their conversion rate is also a problem when opponents enter the 22, but these opportunities are less likely if they don't often give their opponents the initiative.

In a tight contest with few scores, it's hard to look past the man responsible for two of them. His rasping pass to Muir was the first to see, then he backed up to dive over the line, and although the eventual winning try was owed to tired Gloucester legs, his 162 meters was more than double that of any other player on the pitch.

Bath: D Clanville 8*, Koganasika 6, Lawrence 6, Redpath 6, Muir 7, Russell 6, Spencer 7; Obano 7, Dunn 6, Stewart 6, Stoke 6, Ewells 6, G. Van Wells 7, Reid 7, Coetzee 6.

Subs: Annette 7, Du Toit 6, Griffin 6, Roux 6, Barbary 7, Harris 6.

Gloucester: Carreras 5, May 7, Harris 6, Atkinson 5, Thorley 7, Hastings 5, Eaglefield 6; Vivas 6, McGuigan 6, Godovsev 7, Clark 6, Alemanno 7, Ackerman 7, Ludlow 7, Mercer 7.

Subs: Blake 6, Ford-Robinson 6, Balmain 6, Jordan 6, Clement 6, Varney 6, Llewellyn 6.

6' Try for Gloucester (Ackerman). Dunn's errant throw on a lineout near his try-line gave Gloucester a penalty and Mercer passed the ball to Ackerman, who pushed the pile over the line.

31' Bathing try (de Glanville)! After a flurry of play, De Glanville put Muir wide with a sneaky pass, then the full-back recovered the ball and dived in the corner as the winger raced down the wing.

41' Try Bathing (MUIR)! What a start to the second half. Muir scored in his 50th match for Bath. His scrubber kick went straight through Eaglefield's legs and he quickly grabbed the ball and tapped it down.

52' Try taking a shower – NO! The hosts turned the screw. After Gloucester initially blocked the evening from the lineout, Bath had several phases in front of the tryline and were awarded a try.

62' Bathing try (de Glanville)! De Glanville runs through a tired Gloucester defence. Koganasika made an interception early on, then passed wide to Russell Lawrence and a short pass to the full-back saw him run comfortably.

63' Bath 17-10 Gloucester! Russell's kick slides right of the posts for the second time today to keep Gloucester in the game.

78' Bad pass from Hastings ruins a chance for Gloucester! Thorley was the only one on the wing, but Hastings threw in behind his back, and surely it was Bath's game now.

• 9 – Gloucester hold the redundant club record for most consecutive Premiership defeats.