Following Bath’s 30-26 win over Gloucester in round 10 of the Gallagher PREM, here is how we scored Johann van Graan’s men.
Bath player ratings v Gloucester
15 Santi Carreras: Enjoyed a very good return to his former home. Always seemed to make something happen ball-in-hand, notably breaking away for Louie Hennessey’s opening score, and as a result posed a genuine threat around the park. 7
14 Louie Hennessey: Started the night off with a nice try, and could easily have had a second too if Finn Russell had given him the ball, but was then well-marshalled as the game went on. 6
13 Chris Harris: Couldn’t quite hit the same heights as his fellow former Gloucester man, with him kept largely under wraps. Made his tackles when needed, though. 5
12 Max Ojomoh: Quiet by his usual standards, largely due to the lack of time on the ball, but did well with what he was given. 6
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11 Will Muir: Grew into the game as it went on, enjoying a decent battle with Ollie Thorley as a result. Found himself popping up in slightly different holes tonight, too, and got some good change out of it. 6
10 Finn Russell: Certainly shushed the home crowd, both literally and figuratively. Posed a threat ball-in-hand, finishing second for his side in metres-made with 77 from 11 carries and showing his poachers touch with a try, and always managed to unlock space with his distribution as well. Also kicked pretty well off the tee, in a hostile environment. 7
9 Ben Spencer (c): Steady would be the word to describe his shift. Distributed pretty well out of a messy ruck, with Gloucester really targeting the breakdown, and steered his side around to good effect. 6
Back-row
8 Arthur Green: Trucked hard across his shift, but came off with a nasty cut to the head after a collision. 6
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7 Ethan Staddon: Cannot fault his efforts. Stepped up for his side in defence when needed, sitting joint-third in the tackle count with 13 at the time of his departure, and got himself a turnover for good measure. 6
6 Josh Bayliss: The best way to describe his effort is that if he wasn’t there, Bath probably lose the game. Just found himself in everything in an unrelenting effort, making some big interventions on both sides of the ball as a result. 8
Tight five
5 Quinn Roux: Put his body on the line for his side in a gritty defensive effort. As we’ve come to expect, just worked hard in the tight. 6
4 Ted Hill: Quietly went about his business, doing all the unseen stuff to good effect. 6
3 Archie Griffin: A couple of handling errors here and there, but overall a solid shift. Pleasingly notched a healthy tackle count, leading the chart at the time of his departure with 14. 6
2 Dan Frost: Seems to be enjoying his time back in the Blue, Black and White. Yet again got himself on the scoresheet, and would have had a second if not for some heroic defence. The lineout didn’t quite fire as he would have hoped, but overall a decent effort again. 6
1 Francois van Wyk: Didn’t set the pitch alight, but at the same time didn’t put a foot wrong. Held his own in the scrum and got himself about the park. 6
Replacements: Really came to the rescue for the defending champions, after they were given an almighty scare. Guy Pepper’s early introduction was the initial start of their resurgence, and he alone probably warranted a 7 (his yellow blots the copybook), which was then backed up by the unit of Beno Obano, Kepu Tuipulotu, Thomas du Toit, Charlie Ewels and Sam Underhill. Both individually and as a collective, they just upped the ante and got Bath on the front-foot in the latter stages, and Gloucester struggled to handle them. 8