Bath Rugby 17-10 Gloucester Rugby: Three-try hosts hold on for Gallagher Premiership victory

Tom de Glanville's two tries led Bath to a 17-10 victory in the West Country derby and helped consign Gloucester to a club-record ninth straight defeat.

Gloucester started the game superbly and took an early lead when Ruan Ackermann received a ball from Zach Mercer following a tap penalty and barged through to score.

The lead held until just after the half-hour mark when De Glanville exchanged passes with Will Muir before diving over in the corner.

After half-time, Muir scored a freaky try when his grubber kick nutmegged Caolan Englefield and he ran onto touch down.

Then after a long period of pressure, Bath made their advantage count as, following Joe Cokanasiga's interception, the ball came across to De Glanville who easily weaved through the tired opposition defenders to score his second.

Finn Russell's errant kicks kept the game within one score but a poor pass from the Bath No. 10's opposite number and fellow Scotsman Adam Hastings with a couple of minutes remaining ended Gloucester's chances.

The win lifts Bath back up to third in the table. Gloucester remain second bottom.

There is nothing wrong with the intensity of Gloucester's play nor their determination to dig in, the 153 tackles made and multiple times they held Bath up over the line attest to this. However, in a derby match fought on such tough terms, to concede 16 penalties - a deficit of 12 - made it virtually impossible for them to reverse their losing slump. Legendary Irish skipper Brian O'Driscoll spoke about this on TNT Sports after the game: "The momentum is likely to be against you. It's a killer. Discipline is so key to the defensive side of the game and it is the ruck which they have to sort out." Their conversion rate when getting inside the opponents 22 is also a problem, but these chances would not be as sparse if they did not give their opponents the initiative so often.

In a tight match with few scores it is difficult to look past the man who was responsible for tewo of them. The first saw his impudent pass to Muir opening up a break and then he supported to dive over the line and although the ultimately winning try owed as much to tired Gloucester legs, his 162 metres gained was almost double any other player on the pitch.

Bath: De Glanville 8*, Cokanasiga 6, Lawrence 6, Redpath 6, Muir 7, Russell 6, Spencer 7; Obano 7, Dunn 6, Stuart 6, Stooke 6, Ewels 6, G. van Velze 7, Reid 7, Coetzee 6.

Subs: Annett 7, du Toit 6, Griffin 6, Roux 6, Barbeary 7, Harris 6.

Gloucester: Carreras 5, May 7, Harris 6, Atkinson 5, Thorley 7, Hastings 5, Eaglefield 6; Vivas 6, McGuigan 6, Gotovtsev 7, Clarke 6, Alemanno 7, Ackermann 7, Ludlow 7, Mercer 7.

Subs: Blake 6, Ford-Robinson 6, Balmain 6, Jordan 6, Clement 6, Varney 6, Llewellyn 6.

6' TRY FOR GLOUCESTER (ACKERMANN) Dunn's errant throw at a lineout near his try-line gave Gloucester a penalty and Mercer shifts the ball to Ackermann and he shoves the pile over the line.

31' TRY FOR BATH (DE GLANVILLE)! After a spell of disjointed play, De Glanville with a sneaky pass wide to Muir and then after the winger runs down the wing the full-back receives the ball back and dives over in the corner.

41' TRY FOR BATH (MUIR)! What a start to the second half. Muir scores in his 50th match for Bath. His scrubber kick went straight through the legs of Eaglefield and he was quickest to catch the ball and tap it down.

52' TRY FOR BATH - NO! The hosts turned the screw. After Gloucester initially stifled the maul off the lineout, Bath had numerous phases in front of the tryline and they are awarded a try but the TMO was unsure...And replays show the ball was held up.

62' TRY FOR BATH (DE GLANVILLE)! De Glanville runs through the exhausted Gloucester defence. Initially Cokanasiga made an interception and then Russell passed wide to Lawrence and a short pass to the full-back saw him run in comfortably.

63' BATH 17-10 GLOUCESTER! Russell's kick slides to the right of the posts for the second time today to keep Gloucester in the game.

78' AWFUL PASS FROM HASTINGS RUINS CHANCE FOR GLOUCESTER! Thorley was alone on the wing but Hastings threw behind his backs and surely the game in now Bath's.

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