Bath dismiss Gloucester to set up Challenge Cup semi against Edinburgh

Bath booked an appointment with Edinburgh in the EPCR Challenge Cup semi-finals after sweeping aside west country rivals Gloucester 61-26 at the Recreation Ground.

It is 17 years since Bath last won the tournament when current England head coach Steve Borthwick captained them to victory over Worcester.

A trip to the Scottish capital now awaits, and the runaway Gallagher Premiership leaders remain in sparkling form.

Number eight Alfie Barbeary claimed two of of Bath’s nine tries, while there were also touchdowns for Tom de Glanville, Tom Dunn, Archie Griffin, Ben Spencer, Jaco Coetzee, Ted Hill and Tom Carr-Smith, with Finn Russell kicking eight conversions.

Gloucester were in contention throughout much of the first half, and they scored tries through Santi Carreras, Jack Singleton, Jake Morris and Lewis Ludlow – Carreras added three conversions – but Bath never seriously relinquished their grip on the contest.

Fixture

Challenge Cup

Bath

61 - 26

Full-time

Gloucester

All Stats and Data

Bath, 42-26 conquerors of Gloucester in the Premiership three weeks ago, were off and running inside four minutes following a sharp break by full-back Ciaran Donoghue that gave his team momentum before recycled possession resulted in De Glanville going over and Russell converting.

Gloucester, though, responded by scoring from their first attack as fly-half Gareth Anscombe’s cleverly-placed kick found Carreras, who scored in the corner and converted.

There was no let-up in the early scoring, with Bath’s forwards setting up an opportunity for Dunn that he gratefully accepted, making it 12-7 after 11 minutes.

Gloucester were soon in deeper trouble as Russell’s defence-splitting pass put lock Ross Molony clear, and when he stumbled just short of the line, Griffin collected his pass to score, with Russell adding the extras.

But as both defences continued to be tested, Gloucester struck for their second try early in the second quarter when Carreras’ pass sent Singleton through a gap and he finished impressively. Carreras’ conversion cut the deficit to five points.

Bath had flanker Hill yellow-carded for a technical infringement, yet it did not disrupt their rhythm as back-row pair Barbeary and Ethan Staddon linked impressively to create a try for Spencer, converted by Russell.

Morris crossed for Gloucester’s third try, but Bath had another score in the tank as Barbeary finished off some sharp work by Russell, and the fly-half’s conversion made it 33-19 at half-time.

Gloucester boss George Skivington made six changes in the 45th minute – all up-front – but Bath extended their lead midway through the third quarter when a powerful Barbeary burst saw him claim his second try.

The visitors were unable to stay in touch, as they had done during the opening 40 minutes, and Coetzee took Bath out of sight when he touched down 14 minutes from time and Russell converted.

Hill’s try clocked up a half-century for Bath, and a trophy treble remains in their sights, looking to add the Challenge Cup and Premiership title to the Premiership Rugby Cup they won earlier this season.