They should leave a plaque in the corner of Kingsholm, where Josiah Edwards-Giraud, in his first outing since October, ankle-tapped Dan Frost for a try-saving tackle. The centre, who had expected to be taken off at half-time, represented what George Skivington needed most: a fit player. It was a high-calibre act of desperation, a feeling Gloucester continue to endure. So close.
Four years ago, Bath lost 64-0 at Kingsholm. How fortunes have turned. Bath were second in the Gallagher Prem at kick-off, Gloucester ninth, distinct from Newcastle Red Bulls only because of bonus points. They had lost six games in a row. Skivington, the director of rugby, understands supporter animosity; though, with 14 players unavailable through injury, he knows he has been dealt a bad hand. Will Crane, a full-time mortgage adviser, continued his loan at hooker before his return to Hartpury next week.
There were Six Nations auditions across the park. Tomos Williams and Ben Spencer were the captains at scrum half, and they may oppose each other at Twickenham in the opening round on February 7. At inside centre, it was Seb Atkinson — the man who might have worn No12 for England in the autumn were it not for injury — against Max Ojomoh, whom fate handed an outing against Argentina he relished, earning the man of the match award. Skivington believed Atkinson was the clear winner. “I think he’s the best 12 in the country,” he said.
Seb Atkinson delivered a superb performance at inside centre, scoring Gloucester’s third…
SIMON KING/SHUTTERSTOCK
Skivington heaped praise on the 23-year-old, believing he overcame Ojomoh in the battle of the England No12s
SIMON KING/SHUTTERSTOCK EDITORIAL
As well as Ojomoh and Spencer, Bath had three more England squad members on the bench in Henry Arundell, Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill. Kepu Tuipulotu, Beno Obano, Thomas du Toit and Charlie Ewels were also replacements for the visiting side. The message for Gloucester: make sure you are clear by the hour mark. They weren’t, and they paid for the power opposite them.
Gloucester were 21-7 clear after half an hour. So much for boring, boring Bath with fear of open spaces, for they started thrillingly. Finn Russell gathered a difficult ball majestically, Santiago Carreras ghosted wide, and Spencer and Louie Hennessey, who will hope to make his Wales debut next month, were infield to take the two final passes.
Williams plays with such vision that one could almost forgive him for masterminding a 17-second caterpillar ruck in the opening play of the game. No wonder box-kicks reign when the crackdown was quietly forgotten. The scrum half’s flat, long-range passes were to the fore, wheeling out two in a row for Gloucester’s second try.
It was not offloads galore, but there was fine continuity to the fixture. In Charlie Atkinson, Gloucester had a fly half who was channeling Handrè Pollard and Dan Carter in their pomp. He ran a cracking line to cross after one period of concerted pressure and handed off one tackler to break before the other Atkinson scored out wide. Val Rapava-Ruskin had bumped one defender and wrestled through two more for the first try.
Bath hadn’t had a sniff for 30 minutes, but they had their moment as half-time neared. Fixing a malfunctioning lineout, they reverted to type with two pushover mauls, immediately after Pepper entered proceedings. Frost had the ball for the first, Pepper himself for the second. Add in a jackal turnover and Pepper had enjoyed a tremendous salvo, though his sin-bin late on for taking out Charlie Atkinson was a blot. “He made a massive difference,” Johann van Graan, the Bath head of rugby, said. “He’s quickly turning into one of the best players in England.”
Gloucester had no answers for the bullocking Pepper, who made an immediate impact from the bench
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Charlie Atkinson’s perfectly judged grubber yielded a five-metre scrum. That was the time for Bath to empty the bench, five forwards at once, yet Gloucester won a penalty and Afolabi Fasogbon drove over for the fourth try.
This was when Gloucester had to hold on in the face of Bath waves. Four times they did so, until the ball squirted loose after a divine counter-ruck and Russell pounced. He failed to convert so Gloucester still led, but back came Bath and Ciaran Knight joined Pepper in the sin-bin. It was a straightforward kick and Russell added three points. He landed another from long range. Gloucester attacked with promise at the death but fell short.
Improvement and fitness, yes. Defeat, sadly. Russell had shushed the Shed again. “Bath-Gloucester is always a very tough game,” Van Graan said, “and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.”
Gloucester G Barton; J Hathaway (J Cotgreave 66), J Edwards-Giraud, S Atkinson, O Thorley; C Atkinson, T Williams; V Rapava-Ruskin (C Knight 62; sin-bin 72), W Crane (G Knowles 70), A Fasogbon (K Gotovtsev 2-16, 62), D Gwynne (C Jordan 62), M Alemanno (J Mann 62), J Venter, L Ludlow, W Trenholm (V Rapava Ruskin 74).
Bath S Carreras; L Hennessey, C Harris (H Arundell 62), M Ojomoh, W Muir; F Russell, B Spencer (B van der Linde 70); F van Wyk (B Obano 50), D Frost (K Tuipulotu 50), A Griffin (T du Toit 50), T Hill (Q Roux 78), Q Roux (C Ewels 50), J Bayliss, E Staddon (S Underhill 50), A Green (G Pepper 30; sin-bin 68).
Referee Ian Tempest.