Gloucester Rugby 26 – 30 Bath Rugby: Two Finn Russell penalties prove the difference in eight-try thriller

Bath opened the scoring through Louie Hennessey in the third minute. Full back Santi Carreras took to the wing, beat his man and set up an easy two on one for Hennessey to score under the posts. The hosts didn’t take long to answer however when five minutes later, Val Rapava-Ruskin powered through two tackles to put Gloucester onto the scoresheet. Both Finn Russell and George Barton got the extras keeping the scores level.

Gloucester took the lead 20 minutes in through some dominant forward carries which was finished off by a sniping run from flyhalf Charlie Atkinson. Atkinson carried hard and through his opposite number over the lead to put The Cherry and Whites in front. Barton once more got the extras.

The flair Gloucester are known for was in full force as they extended their lead just five minutes later when Charlie Atkinson produced a stunning one-handed offload which allowed Seb Atkinson to convert out wide. Barton kicked a beautiful conversion to give Gloucester a 14-point lead.

A driving maul got one back for Bath as the visitors took a maul ten metres allowing hooker Dan Frost too to hang at the back of the maul until over the try line for the score just after the half hour mark. Russell’s conversion attempt was well short.

One driving maul try turned into two for Bath as the visitors got their third try in the 38^th minute when Guy Pepper put down for the score. Russell’s conversion was successful.

Gloucester thought they got the first try of the second half, but referee Ian Tempest called it back over crossing on the touch line preventing Bath from making the tackle.

Gloucester got their bonus point try in the 52^nd minute when a powerful lunge by Afo Fasogbon proved too much despite strong Bath defence. Barton missed the extras.

It was a staunch defensive effort from the hosts over the next ten minutes, phase after phase of Bath attack in the five-metre line was stopped through immense defensive effort.

This defensive effort was finally broken in the 65^th minute by Russell, a loose ball at the breakdown was scooped up by the fly half who reacted quickest for the pick and score. He missed the conversion on his own try.

Guy Pepper was sent to the sin bin in the 68^th minute for a purposeful trip on Charlie Atkinson.

Gloucester was also sent down to 14 men when Ciaran Knight was sent to the bin for obstruction in the breakdown.

Russell took the resulting penalty to put Bath in front by one point with seven minutes to play.

Russell converted another penalty in the 76^th minute putting Bath ahead by four.

15. George Barton 14. Josh Hathaway 13. Josiah Edwards-Giraud 12. Seb Atkinson 11. Ollie Thorley 10. Charlie Atkinson 9. Tomos Williams (Captain) 1. Val Rapava-Ruskin 2. Will Crane 3. Afo Fasogbon 4. Deian Gwynne 5. Matias Alemanno 6. James Venter 7. Lewis Ludlow 8. Will Trenholm

16. George Knowles 17. Ciaran Knight 18. Kirill Gotovtsev 19. Cam Jordan 20. Jack Mann 21. Mikey Austin 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jack Cotgreave

Starting XV:

15. Santi Carreras 14. Louie Hennessey 13. Chris Harris 12. Max Ojomoh 11. Will Muir 10. Finn Russell 9. Ben Spencer (Captain) 1. Francois Van Wyk 2. Dan Frost 3. Archie Griffin 4. Ted Hill 5. Quinn Roux 6. Josh Bayliss 7. Ethan Staddon 8. Arthur Green

Replacements:

16. Kepueli Tuipolutu 17. Beno Obano 18. Thomas Du Toit 19. Charlie Ewels 20. Guy Pepper 21. Bernard Van Der Linde 22. Henry Arundell 23. Sam Underhill

Seb Atkinson - Gloucester and England – Steve Borthwick announced his 36-man squad for this year’s six nations on Friday afternoon, amongst the names was Gloucester vice-captain Atkinson. The 23-year-old has two caps for his country and with an injury to fellow countryman Ollie Lawrence, it looks likely Atkinson will make his tournament debut this campaign whether in the starting XV or off the bench.

A dynamic player who offers extreme rugby IQ both in attack and defence he will be a familiar name for years to come. His defensive work rate is excellent and when his Gloucester side are lacking attacking prowess, he takes it on his shoulders to reignite the fire with staunch running and powerful line breaks. He is vital to this Gloucester side and will be a fine England international in the near future.

Tomos Williams – Gloucester and Wales – Last season’s PREM player of the season is leaving Kingsholm at the end of the season, but he has been electric in the west country. His ability is clear to see, and he is a joy to watch week in and week out. Williams will be hoping to carry his form into the six nations and reignite the fire in the Welsh dragon. It will be a hard task for the scrum half, but many see the hopes of the Welsh for an upset this campaign to be relying on some Tomos Williams magic.

Finn Russell – Bath and Scotland – Arguably the best fly half, or maybe ever best player, in the world, Russell is a rugby genius. He makes the right decision at the right time, every time. With an ageing Scottish side, it may be the twilight years for a golden generation of Scottish rugby, one spearheaded by Russell. He will have an increased urgency this year to make sure his international career does not end without a six nations title. Expect some standard Finn Russell excellence this campaign.

Archie Griffin – Bath and Wales – The young Welshman may be the successor to Tomas Francis at tighthead for Wales, he’s physically dominant in the set piece and at the breakdown for Bath. He has broken into the Bath team since his return from pericarditis in 2024. He currently has eleven caps for his country and with his play constantly improving he looks set to lock down the number three jersey for Wales for years to come. A superb talent who is only improving game by game.

Max Ojomoh – Bath and England – Ojomoh has two caps for his country, which shows the depth England have at the centre position. An absolute spectacle of a player, Ojomoh has over 80 caps for Bath even filling in at fly half after an injury to Finn Russell. His style and flair is sure to excite England fans and Steve Borthwick has an absolute gem at his disposal. Although he faces stiff competition from the likes of Fraser Dingwall, Seb Atkinson, Henry Slade and even Tommy Freeman, if the winger is given centre duties, Ojomoh has all the talent to start multiple matches in this campaign.

Everyone was expecting a thumping from Bath tonight, but that wasn’t the case. It took Finn Russell’s boot to make the difference in a game that saw the reigning PREM champions on the back foot throughout. A controversial final whistle from Referee Ian Tempest, when Gloucester had an advantage, was the icing on the cake. Bath moves top of the table whilst Gloucester gain two losing bonus points in what was their best performance all season. Bath will be walking out of Kingsholm breathing a huge sigh of relief as their noisy neighbours really gave them a run in. One decision against The Wiltshire outlet and the game could well have been turned onto its head. A true game for the ages.

The reigning champions are in the perfect position too retain their title now halfway through the season. They sit top, albeit it Northampton have a game in hand, and have been putting in great performances all season. They were run right to the brink today, but champions know how to just get their noses in front and they did just that tonight. It could’ve easily slipped away from them, but they constantly came back to keep themselves in the game. It will be a close end to the season but the Blue, Black and White’s will be feeling confident to retain their title.

This was by far the best Gloucester performance of the season, they were strong, determined and exciting to watch. The axis of Barton and Charlie Atkinson is looking sharp, the pair of them play as distributer 1A and 1B. They provide an unreal attacking option for Tomos Williams, and they created a new spark in what was a dormant Gloucester side for much of the first half of the season.

Speaking on the performance Gloucester Director of Rugby George Skivington said “I think that’s our best game so far, that is really narrow against a good team, its sore right now but I am proud of the boys, and we will move forward from that”.

Watching Seb Atkinson play every week has really shown me what a player he is. Due to the underwhelming season Gloucester are having many will have written him off their radar but he is a sensational rugby player. He could run through a brick wall for 80 minutes, whenever Gloucester needs a kick up, he puts the side on his back and carries hard and true. He is also superb on the offload and loose play and defensively his work rate is second to none. His future is so bright, and I believe he deserves the 12 jersey for England; he’s earnt it.

Speaking on Atkinson, Gloucester Director of Rugby George Skivington said “I think he’s the best 12 in the country hands down. It was a shootout tonight for two lads in the England squad and in my opinion, there was one clear winner. He will die for the cause, and he deserves to get some action in the six nations so let’s hope he does.”

Only one Gloucester player went off with a knock today, Kirill Gotovtsev, the lowest number this season. With some key pieces coming back from injury and some young talent breaking through the season could be turning. There were 14 players out with injury for Gloucester today but those who stepped up tonight, were excellent.

When the team is back to full fitness, Gloucester may be resurgent. Speaking on the injuries today George Skivington said “Kirill [Gotovtsev] is the only one, he came off with a bang, but I think most of the boys are in good nick. I don’t think we got anything too serious today, which is a nice day, we shouldn’t be too banged up.”