Bath find their flow to hit Gloucester for six

By ROGER PANTING

Gloucester ………………….. 27pts

Tries: Harris 17, Carreras 27, Alemanno 68

Conversions: Barton 17, 27, 68

Penalties: Barton 6, 36

Bath ……………………………… 45pts

Tries: Lawrence 24, 80; Muir 49, du Toit 53, Obano 60, Penalty 64

Conversions: Russell 24, 49, 53, 60, 80

Penalties: Russell 9

GLOUCESTER coach George Skivington was lost for words after his side threw away a 20-10 interval lead by conceding five second-half tries as Bath won a pulsating West Country derby before a soldout Kingsholm.

In building that halftime advantage, Gloucester produced some of their best rugby in ages with slick handling causing Bath to chase shadows but inexplicably they imploded to sink without trace as their opponents ran riot.

Skivington said: “Ican't really offer any explanation for our second half performance and we will have to study the video to try and assess what exactly went on.

“It's concerning as to why we are falling away so badly and I'd like to apologise to our supporters as there is definitely something missing and it's just not good enough.

“They targeted the breakdown and we couldn't cope in that area so every time they got into our 22 they scored.

“We were very positive in the first half, attacked very well, and probably should have scored more points.”

Gloucester could easily have done so as their backs were mightily impressive in getting the ball into the wide channels with George Barton losing nothing in comparison with Finn Russell.

Jonny May and Santiago Carreras also excelled in attack and it was rough justice on Carreras that he finished on the losing side.

Ollie Lawrence apart, Bath were nowhere but after the restart their pack was exemplary with Beno Obano too strong in the tight and Sam Underhill and Alfie Barbeary the key figures in the loose.

Gloucester made an explosive start with both May and Carreras testing the defence with some penetrating runs.

Carreras was hauled down metres short but Ben Spencer was yellow-carded as he sought to slow down Gloucester's possession with the hosts soon capitalising via a Barton penalty.

Bath's responded with a Russell penalty but Gloucester's early dominance was rewarded when Chris Harris powered over after the visitors' defence had been dragged from side to side.

Bath missed a chance when a second threatening burst from Lawrence set up a scoring opportunity for Miles Reid but the flanker stumbled over a tackle from Carreras with the line beckoning.

It mattered little as Lawrence took matters into his own hands by brushing off two tackles to cross but Gloucester were soon back in front when more intricate back play created a walk-in for Carreras.

A Russell penalty attempt rebounded back off a post before Barton was successful with a 30m shot to give his side a deserved 20-10 interval lead.

After the restart Bath were a totally different side and after softening up their opponents they scored four tries in 15 minutes to turn the game on its head.

First Will Muir collected Max Ojomoh's long pass to bump off two defenders to score before Thomas du Toit finished off a succession of forward drives. Obano repeated the dose before a penalty try was awarded with Jack Clement sinbinned for collapsing.

Slam dunk: Ollie Lawrence celebrates his second try in the last minute

PICTURES: Getty Images

Gloucester showed some heart with a try from Matias Alemanno before Clement returned from the sin-bin in time to see Lawrence seal victory with his second try.

Run in: Santiago Carreras scores for Gloucester

Bath head coach Johann van Graan said: “We want the squad to get better. This is just year two of our journey and who knows where we will be at the end of the season but that is certainly the best we've been so far.”