Gloucester beat Bath 23-5 to stay top of the Prem

Gloucester beat Bath 23-5 at Kingsholm on Friday to maintain their position at the top of the Prem. According to BBC Sport, the hosts survived a spell with only 13 players before second-half tries from Freddie Thomas and Max Llewellyn secured the derby victory.

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George Barton kicked three penalties and converted both tries. Gloucester led 9-5 at the interval after Kepu Tuipulotu scored Bath's only try from a maul. Ollie Thorley and Ciaran Knight were sin-binned before the break, while Will Joseph received a yellow card in the second half.

The fixture brought together two sides returning to domestic competition for round four of the league campaign after contrasting European results. FloRugby's team announcement recorded Gloucester's 36-36 draw with defending European champions Union Bordeaux, while Bath arrived following successive defeats against Northampton Saints and Montpellier. Gloucester therefore entered the derby after sharing 72 points in their previous match, with Bath seeking to halt a run of losses across two competitions.

Jac Morgan captained a Gloucester starting side whose back row also included Thomas and Jack Clement. The confirmed lineups published by Planet Rugby placed Caolan Englefield and Charlie Atkinson at half-back, with Llewellyn and Joseph in midfield. Barton started at full-back, behind wings Thorley and Will Knight, giving the hosts a backline that included both their eventual second-half try-scorer Llewellyn and kicker Barton.

Bath's selection included captain Ben Spencer alongside Finn Russell at half-back, with Ollie Lawrence and Cameron Redpath in the centres. Santiago Carreras started at full-back, while Tyler Offiah and Louie Hennessey occupied the wings. Tuipulotu was selected at hooker between Beno Obano and Archie Griffin, according to the published team lists.

BBC Sport reported that Gloucester made 113 tackles in the first half and that three Bath tries were disallowed following television reviews. Thomas extended the lead after the break before Llewellyn scored late on. Bath failed to add to their half-time total and suffered a third consecutive defeat in all competitions.