England centre Mike Tindall fired a glorious try double as Bath preserved
their unbeaten league record over Gloucester with a resounding victory at the
Recreation Ground.
Gloucester had never tasted success at their west country rivals in 13
previous visits and a powerful performance from John Connolly's side meant that
domination never came under serious threat this afternoon.
It was a missed opportunity for the Cherry and Whites who would have moved top
of the Premiership table had they triumphed and the result now means Sale
- who face Leeds on Sunday - are the only side still to hold a 100% record.
A try in each half from man-of-the-match Tindall saw the World Cup winner
celebrate his recovery from a shoulder injury in the perfect manner, displaying
clinical finishing skills for the second.
Tindall was clearly not back to his best but his performance will have pleased
stand-in England boss Andy Robinson ahead of the November internationals against
Canada, South Africa and Australia.
Bath's pack - bolstered by the return of second-row Steve Borthwick who had
completed a seven-day suspension - bossed their opponents up-front with
Gloucester showing little resemblance to the team which had cruised to four
league wins this season.
The 2003 Premiership finalists were severely hamstrung by the woeful kicking
of Henry Paul with the former rugby league star missing four of his six shots at
goal in an afternoon he will want to forget as soon as possible.
By contrast third-choice England fly-half Olly Barkley was in magnificent form
with the boot and although some of his decision-making was questionable, his
19-point haul was the inspiration behind Bath's victory.
It was Barkley who drew first blood with just a minute on the clock - his
penalty saw Gloucester punished for straying off-side and Bath dealt another
psychological blow by overpowering the visitors at a 10th minute scrum.
England A winger Marcel Garvey threatened with an arching run followed by a
chip ahead but there was too much weight on his kick and the ball bounced
harmlessly out of danger, allowing Bath to breath a sigh of relief.
Gloucester continued to pile on the pressure and were rewarded by a Paul
penalty - although an initial overlap on the left meant they could have had more
- but three points from Barkley soon restored the home side's advantage.
There was little in it as both sides probed away with Bath going close
following some impressive work from their pack and an opportunist break from
scrum-half Martyn Wood, before Paul's boot levelled matters once again.
But John Connolly's side were back in front in the 29th minute thanks to a
dreadful blunder from Gloucester fly-half Duncan McRae who gifted Bath the first
try of the afternoon.
John Goodridge failed to control a towering up-and-under from Barkley but the
ball bounced back into the arms of McRae only for the Australian to fumble
possession into the path of Tindall and the England centre gathered up and fell
over the line.
Barkley added the conversion and a third penalty but his side were a man down
in the 39th minute after referee Dave Pearson spotted Robbie Fleck's late
shoulder charge on James Simpson-Daniel and sent the former Springbok to the
sin-bin.
McRae slashed the deficit with a drop goal before Melville beefed up his front
row by bringing on monster South Africa prop Christo Bezuidenhout and French
hooker Olivier Azam in the 45th minute.
But Azam hardly made the impression he would have liked as five minutes later
he was yellow carded for impeding Danny Grewcock at a line-out and Barkley
rifled over the ensuing penalty to add to his fourth moments earlier.
Barkley was required to convert Tindall's second try in the 58th minute after
the 25-year-old combined with Martyn Wood following some slick line-out work and
wrong-footed the defence on his way to touching down.
A spell of driving rain took its inevitable toll on the match in the final
quarter but the wet weather did little to dampen Gloucester's spirits as they
took advantage of Bath's overstretched defence to score through Goodridge.
As expected Paul pushed the conversion wide and the visitors could make no
further headway against Bath's defence, leaving last year's beaten Premiership
finalists to toast a deserved victory.
Teams:
Bath: Best, Higgins, Fleck, Tindall, Daniel, Barkley, Wood,
Barnes, Humphreys, Bell, Borthwick, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman,
Fea'unati.
Replacements: Walshe for Wood (72), Stevens for Barnes (34),
Hawkins for Humphreys (67), Fidler for Grewcock (68),
Delve for Beattie (80).
Not Used: Malone, Davey.
Sin Bin: Fleck (38), Fidler (79).
Tries: Tindall 2.
Cons: Barkley 2.
Pens: Barkley 5.
Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Fanolua, Paul, Simpson-Daniel,
McRae, Gomarsall, Sigley, Fortey, Powell, Eustace, Brown,
Buxton, Boer, Balding.
Replacements: Bezuidenhout for Sigley (44),
Azam for Fortey (44), Forrester for Eustace (62).
Not Used: Wood, Hazell, Amor, Bailey.
Sin Bin: Azam (52).
Tries: Goodridge.
Pens: Paul 2.
Drop Goals: McRae.
Att: 9,000
Ref: D Pearson (RFU).
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