Nine-try Bath too strong for Gloucester
MATCH REPORT: Premiership leaders Bath ran in nine tries to secure a place in the Challenge Cup semifinals after beating Gloucester 61-26 at the Recreation Ground on Sunday evening.
In a back-and-forth battle at The Rec, the hosts headed into the change rooms thanks to tries from Tom de Glanville, Tom Dunn, Archie Griffin, Ben Spencer, and Alfie Barbeary.
The hosts struck first with De Glanville slicing through under the posts just three minutes in, but it only took another three minutes for Gloucester to respond with a lovely cross-field from Gareth Anscombe for Santi Carreras to touch down against his future teammates.
Two front rowers then went over for Bath in Dunn and Griffin, but, not to be outdone by his counterparts, Jack Singleton powered through to keep the visitors in it.
Spencer and Barbeary added two more for Bath, with Jacob Morris getting one back for Gloucester in a tit-for-tat, 52-point first half.
After conceding his side were overpowered by Bath’s replacements in their previous meeting, Cherry and Whites boss George Skivington made six changes immediately after the break – tellingly with five to his forwards – but it could not stem Bath’s tide.
Barbeary bulldozed through multiple tacklers and over to strike a crushing blow before replacement Jaco Coetzee added a seventh, and Hill then got the eighth, from close range.
Lewis Ludlow pulled one back for Gloucester to ensure they put some points on the board in the second half but the last word still went to Bath, who piled forward until the end and Tom Carr-Smith ran in a ninth with two minutes left on the clock.
The Premiership leaders will now face Edinburgh away in three weeks’ time for a place in the Final and remain firmly in the fight for another trophy this season.
Scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: De Glanville, Dunn, Griffin, Spencer, Barbeary 2, Redpath, Hill, Carr-Smith
Cons: Russell 8
For Gloucester:
Tries: Carreras, Singleton, Morris, Ludlow
Cons: Carreras 3
Teams:
Bath: 15 Ciaran Donoghue, 14 Tom de Glanville, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Will Butt, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Ethan Staddon, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano,
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Josh Bayliss, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Jaco Coetzee
Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris (captain), 12 Will Butler, 11 Jake Morris, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Harry Taylor, 6 Deian Gwynne, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ciaran Knight
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Afo Fasogbon, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Jack Clement, 22 Tomos Williams, 23 Charlie Atkinson
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Ludovic Cayre (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
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