Gloucester Rugby beat Bath Rugby 23-5 at Kingholm in Round Four of the 2026/27 Gallagher PREM

Friday night's West Country derby proved you don't need an avalanche of points to produce a game you can't take your eyes off.

Gloucester Rugby showed spirit beyond measure to fight through three yellow cards and mountains of pressure both in terms of possession and territory, to beat Bath Rugby 23-5 at an atmospheric sold-out Kingsholm.

The win looked unlikely when Bath exercised total domination for most of the first half, coming into the dressing rooms having enjoyed 65 per cent possession and 67 per cent of the territory, but somehow Gloucester survived for a morale-boosting victory.

For Bath, it was a disappointing night as they fell to their third consecutive defeat and lost both Santi Carreras and Guy Pepper to injuries.

Freddie Thomas and Max Llewellyn scored Gloucester’s tries, with George Barton converting both and adding three penalties, whereas a try from Kepueli Tuipulotu was Bath’s sole response, with the away side help up over the line three times.

Gloucester had the better of the early exchanges before Bath suffered a huge blow when former Gloucester favourite Carreras slipped and damaged an ankle. The full-back received lengthy treatment on the floor before being helped off to be replaced by Ciaran O’Donoghue.

Bath overcame this setback to produce their first attacks of the night. They too turned down two kicks at goal and looked to have taken the lead when Tuipulotu was awarded a try, but TMO replays showed that the hooker had been hauled down short of the line as he tore away from a driving line-out.

Bath were still able to maintain the pressure by besieging the opposition line. Gloucester conceded a number of penalties and eventually their wing Ollie Thorley was yellow-carded for persistent team infringements.

Another try was awarded, this time to Bath’s Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, but again the try was score was ruled out as the lock lost possession before touching down.

Gloucester conceded 11 penalties in the first 27 minutes and it came as no surprise when prop Ciaran Knight became their second player to enter the sin-bin.

Remarkably, it was Gloucester who scored the first points after 31 minutes, when Barton knocked over a penalty after Pepper was adjudged to be offside.

Gloucester were back up to 14 when Barton soon kicked two penalties in quick succession, but with the last move of the half Bath scored at long last with a try from Tuipulotu from a driving line-out to leave them trailing 9-5 at the interval.

After the restart, Will Joseph became the third Gloucester to be yellow-carded as the centre deliberately knocked on but once again Bath butchered their opportunities and they were made to pay.

Gloucester broke out to secure an attacking platform, with Caolan Englefield and Jack Clement making key contributions for Thomas to force his way over.

Bath changed four forwards in one swoop in an attempt to reverse the tide, but it was the signal for Gloucester to raise their intensity, with some intricate play from their backs putting the visitors on the back foot.

Bath suffered another blow when their international flanker Guy Pepper was helped off, forcing wing Louie Hennessey to pack down in the back row at the next scrum, and their miserable night was complete when Llewellyn forced his way over following sensational breaks from Jac Morgan and Will Joseph.

Gloucester Rugby: 15. George Barton, 14. Ollie Thorley, 13. Will Joseph, 12. Max Llewellyn, 11. Will Knight, 10. Charlie Atkinson, 9. Caolan Englefield, 1. Val Rapava Ruskin, 2. Seb Blake, 3. Ciaran Knight, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Arthur Clark, 6. Freddie Thomas, 7. Jac Morgan (C), 8. Jack Clement

Replacements: 16. Jack Innard, 17. Dian Bleuler, 18. Afo Fasogbon, 19. Will Trenholm, 20. Lewis Ludlow, 21. Dan Robson, 22. Max Knight, 23. Ben Redshaw

Bath Rugby: 15. Santi Carreras, 14. Louie Hennessey, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 12. Cameron Redpath, 11. Tyler Offiah, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben Spencer (c), 1. Beno Obano, 2. Kepueli Tuipulotu, 3. Archie Griffin, 4. Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6. Josh Bayliss, 7. Guy Pepper, 8. Miles Reid

Replacements: 16. Dan Frost, 17. Scott Kirk, 18. Kieran Verden, 19. Ross Molony, 20. Ted Hill, 21. Tom Carr-Smith, 22. Ciaran Donoghue, 23. Arthur Green

Referee: Christophe Ridley

ARs: George Selwood and Jamie Parr

TMO: Peter Allan