Bath claimed a European Challenge Cup victory against Overmach Parma but coach Steve Meehan will have been concerned at the way his team struggled to shrug off the Italians.

The Guinness Premiership side were expected to rack up another healthy victory over the Italians who had never won in England but the frustration around the Recreation Ground was palpable as Bath wobbled to a 28-0 win.

World Cup winner Butch James made his debut and pulled out a moment of inspiration to send Olly Barkley under the posts to ensure maximum points for Bath.

It took a yellow card for Parma prop Fabio Staibano to hand Bath the advantage and skipper Steve Borthwick finally broke the deadlock with a timely try deep into injury time.

Bath's poor play continued into the second half, before centre Alex Crockett showed a clean pair of heels to his opposite number before Barkley and replacement Jonny Faamatuainu went over.