BATH 11 GLOUCESTER 14

STUBBORN Gloucester were as rugged as they were controlled in registering a first-ever double Premiership double over arch rivals Bath in this pulsating, fierce and compelling West Country derby.

The bullish Cherry and Whites squeezed Bath up front, profiting from momentous performances from every man in the pack.

Nick Wood’s first-half try and two Freddie Burns penalties put Gloucester into an 11-5 half-time lead.

Tom Biggs’ sucker-punch early score rocked the visitors, but Bryan Redpath’s men settled into a powerful rhythm and pinned Bath back at every turn.

Bath struck back after the break, with Olly Barkey and Tom Heathcote landing a penalty apiece to draw the game level.

But nerveless Ryan Mills coolly slotted the winning penalty just after the hour, only nine minutes after replacing Burns, who had fallen prey to cramp.

The torrent from above that lashed the pitch at The Rec from the hour before kick-off until half-time carried portents of a muscular street fight.

And within three minutes both teams took the argument outside, with Jim Hamilton and Ryan Caldwell both receiving yellow cards for their part in a reasonably tempestuous mass brawl.

These two sets of players do not like each other, that’s for sure.

Add that to the obligatory derby needle, and this was a pressure cooker atmosphere.

But after that initial aberration Gloucester calmed down just enough to produce a highly-impressive performance to battle horrid conditions and unbridled hostility at every turn.

It was hooker Lee Mears whose defence-turning grubber allowed flame-haired wing Biggs to fly into the corner and dot down on the loose ball for the opening score.

He might look like an extra from the Thundercats, but Biggs can finish, and the speed man’s try stunned Gloucester, who had started fairly brightly.

The setback was not enough to subdue the frenzied Kingsholm horde though, and Redpath’s men struck back through prop Wood, who capped a superlative performance with a fine try.

Burns blasted through the line, fed Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu who in turn set Mike Tindall careering towards the Bath whitewash.

The former England skipper very nearly powered over, but took the tackle and recycled at speed.

Tindall clearly at one point thought about launching a lofted pass out wide, but sensibly thought better of it.

Instead he gifted Gloucester the perfect fast platform to power left, and James Simpson-Daniel’s ideal pass over the top to the lurking Wood allowed the 28-year-old loosehead to storm on and slide home.

Burns could not land the tricky conversion, and later inexplicably missed a penalty from slap bang in front of the posts.

Nerves hardly register on the increasingly-masterful fly-half’s radar though – because just five minutes later he nailed a fairly testing three-pointer to ease thoughts of that earlier miss.

Former Gloucester playmaker Barkley then missed a sitter of a penalty of his own, in seriously similar circumstances to that Burns shank.

Former Bath Academy man Burns then slotted a goal from near halfway to sound the half-time whistle, and to ensure Gloucester turned round six points to the good.

If Wood’s try was the catalyst for the Gloucester fight back, the wily prop produced the defensive tour de force of the half too.

Bath scrum-half Michael Claassens raced through Gloucester’s ragged defensive line, threatening to power away unchecked.

But from nowhere Wood raced back, hauled the South African to ground – and jumped immediately to his feet to win a turnover penalty with a textbook jackal steal.

There is no doubt that one act kept Gloucester in the contest.

Gloucester will have happy enough with their lot at the break, despite Akapusi Qera botching a gilt-edged chance by cutting inside rather than shipping on, just yards from the line.

The visitors’ gusto stalled somewhat after the turnaround: Gloucester were unable to exert the same immense territorial pressure in the third quarter that had punctuated the opening two.

And so Bath levelled, through Barkley and young fly-half Heathcote.

But Gloucester’s resolve never wavered.

In fact they forced a last-quarter resurgence of which to man they can be wholly proud.

Burns had to depart the fray early, the 21-year-old hindered by cramp.

So on trotted 19-year-old Ryan Mills, and the muscular midfielder slotted straight in, hoisting to the air at the right times and keeping it simple.

His penalty that eventually won the game was certainly not routine, and yet he delivered that victorious blow with no trace of nerve.

Gloucester’s stout and frantic defence kept Bath away from the tryline for the entire second half, and that had just as big impact on the result as anything else.

The Cherry and Whites spent the last three minutes winding down the clock through pick-and-go drives, until with nine seconds to go they conceded a penalty.

Alex Brown held on as Francois Louw snaffled over the ball, taking advantage of poor Gloucester protection for their imperious lineout leader.

Just out of Heathcote’s range, Bath went for the corner – and the jugular.

But the lineout was a shambles, an overthrow forcing a despairing knock-on.

At the final whistle jubilation for the double double.

But more than that: elation for a step into the Premiership’s top-six.

Gloucester’s pack were superb, Burns marshalled the troops smartly delving into his entire repertoire of cheeky chips, line breaks – and also tight tactical kicking.

Loosehead prop Wood produced the complete performance too, one second-half 20-metre midfield line break a devastating rumble from a man whose loose play is sometimes question in certain quarters.

Add free-running rampages to his turnover ball-winning exploits – and all this on top of once-again devastating scrummaging.

Brag on you Gloucester fans, your derby day heroes will bask quietly in your reflected glory tonight, while turning attention straight to Harlequins’ Kingsholm visit next weekend.

Fist pumps and man hugs might have been the testosterone-fuelled final whistle response to this totemic victory – but understated smiles and quiet satisfaction were the order of the day on the bus back to Kingsholm.

SCORERS:

BATH: Tries: Biggs (10). Pens: Barkley (57), Heathcote (60).

GLOUCESTER: Tries: Wood (18). Pens: Burns 2 (31, 40), Mills (66).

YELLOW CARDS:

BATH: Caldwell (3).

GLOUCESTER: Hamilton (3).

BATH: Sam Vesty, Olly Woodburn, Matt Banahan, Olly Barkley (Matt Carraro, 70), Tom Biggs, Tom Heathcote, Michael Claassens, Nathan Catt (Charlie Beech, 70), Lee Mears (Ross Batty, 76), Anthony Perenise, Stuart Hooper, Ryan Caldwell, Ben Skirving, Francois Louw, Simon Taylor (Guy Mercer, 71). Unused: Duncan Bell, Josh Ovens, Chris Cook, Jack Cuthbert.

GLOUCESTER: Jonny May, Charlie Sharples, Mike Tindall (capt), Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, James Simpson-Daniel, Freddie Burns (Ryan Mills, 57), Rory Lawson, Nick Wood, Scott Lawson (Darren Dawidiuk, 71), Rupert Harden (Shaun Knight, 70), Jim Hamilton, Alex Brown, Tom Savage (Pete Buxton, 70), Akapusi Qera, Matt Cox. Unused: Dan Murphy, Will James, Dave Lewis, Tom Voyce.

ATTENDANCE: 12,200.

REFEREE: Wayne Barnes.