AS MUCH as the on-field evidence, it was the names on the list of those not appearing in Gloucester’s red that assumed real significance in the wind and wet at a jam-packed Kingsholm.
Bath started and finished strongly, and offered a rare try double from Danny Grewcock — the second after a 15-metre charge up the touchline — but it was the youthful English talent in Gloucester’s back line, and the workrate and creative skills at the back of their pack, that made all the difference.
The first half was typical of so many West Country derbies, a locking of horns and a testing of pride and courage. Yet as Dean Ryan, the Gloucester head coach, said afterwards, Gloucester played the smarter rugby throughout and always had the edge in attack. “I’m really pleased because we had the courage to keep the ball in hand despite the conditions,” he said. “We’re getting better and better, and we have lots of presence in lots of positions”.
Mike Tindall, who reported a sore calf before kick-off, Carlos Nieto, James Simpson-Daniel, Ryan Lamb and Jake Boer were all missing with injury. Iain Balshaw, moreover, turned an ankle just before half-time on his Gloucester debut and did not emerge afterwards.
But 19-year-old Jack Adams, on his return from a knee injury, not just filled in for Balshaw but almost immediately finished off a sweeping movement also involving Anthony Allen and James Forrester with a jinking run that oozed class and underlined his potential.
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SCORERS: Gloucester: Tries: Adams (43min), Morgan (59). Conversion: Walker. Penalty goals: Walker 4 (12, 36, 40, 40+12). Bath: Tries: Grewcock 2 (54, 73). Penalty goals: Barkley 3 (5, 40+4, 78).
SCORING SEQUENCE (Gloucester first): 0-3, 3-3, 6-3, 9-3, 9-6, 12-6 (half-time), 19-6, 19-11, 24-11, 24-16, 24-19.
GLOUCESTER: O Morgan; I Balshaw (rep: J Adams, 41), R Keil, A Allen, M Foster; W Walker, P Richards (rep: R Lawson, 64); N Wood (rep: J Forster, 53), M Davies (rep: O Azam, 75), C Califano, M Bortolami, A Brown (rep: W James, 75), P Buxton, A Hazell, J Forrester.
BATH: M Stephenson (sin-bin, 40+11-48); A Higgins, R Davis, O Barkley, D Bory (rep: J Maddock, 32); S Berne, N Walshe; D Flatman (rep: D Barnes, 56), L Mears, D Bell, S Borthwick (sin-bin, 39-40+9), D Grewcock, P Short, M Lipman (rep: I Feaunati, 38-40, 49)
Referee: S Davey.
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Attendance: 12,500.