On a hot, dry day in Gloucester, Bath's failure to complete the basic elements of their game cost them the chance of a rare and famous victory in a tight game at Kingsholm.  The predictions of a feast of running rugby were confounded by some exceptional defending from both sides, which saw not a single point being scored in the second half.

Early on in the game, Bath had most of the ball and most of the territory, but they ran into a ferocious Gloucester defence, which was able to slow down the ball well and stifle Bath's offloading game, with Akapusi Qera well to the fore.  A Gloucester knock on in defence in midfield led to a scrum at which Bath were penalised, giving Lamb the first chance at goal from right in front, but he sliced the attempt wide.

Bath then really started to turn it on, with a move from a scrum just outside their 22 sending Matt Banahan clear on the charge, stopped only by an exceptional tackle from Iain Balshaw just short of the line.  Then, as was the case far too often in attack, Bath turned the ball over in a promising position.  However, they were soon back in the Gloucester 22, where Matt Stevens broke through the line and was charging for the posts when he was brought down by another very fine
tackle from Simpson-Daniel.  Bath were penalised for holding on at the subsequent ruck, and as Stevens limped off injured, enabling Gloucester to clear their lines.

After commencing a kicking duel, Gloucester eventually took the ball from a Bath knock on by the right hand touchline and from the ensuing ruck, Bath were penalised for going in at the side and Ryan Lamb gratefully took the chance to kick the points.  The lead didn't last long as Gloucester were pinged by Dave Pearson for a similar offence on their own 10 metre line and Barkley stepped up to slot a long-range kick.

With the game becoming more attritional, Gloucester produced a touch of class to take the lead again, with a fast backs move leading to Simpson-Daniel scoring after Cheeseman and Banahan had missed tackles out wide.  Fortunately for Bath, Lamb missed another reasonably simple pot at goal to leave the score 8-3 to Gloucester.

The game then reverted to form, with attack after Bath attack being blunted by combative defence from Gloucester, always looking to take man and ball, with support from the back row always quick to the ruck to slow the ball down, which they eventually did once too often to offer Olly Barkley another long range chance at goal, which he gratefully accepted to make the score 8-6 at half time.  Little did we know it, but these were the last points of the game.

The second half turned into a very physical contest, with Gloucester coming out with the same fire in their defence, simply looking to stifle Bath's play.  The speed and physicality of both back rows led to both sets of backs getting turned over when getting slightly isolated.

However, basic errors were creeping into the Bath game in crucial positions - a seeming inability to get quick ball off the top of the lineout or indeed win it at all was costing Bath territory, and knock ons from the backs in good positions again gave Gloucester the chance to peg Bath back and make them come back at them from deep.

Space throughout was at a premium thanks to the strong defence, and after a Bath turnover, Vainikolo raced clear into space, beating one or two Bath defenders who'd kept playing, but as Qera touched the ball down most of the players were still standing in midfield where Dave Pearson had blown up for a knock on.  Neither the Bath fans I was with nor the Gloucester fans seemed particularly impressed with Dave Pearson, which seems to me the mark of a good refereeing performance.

We then entered a nerve-wracking final 10, in which Butch James showed that for all his other skills, drop goals are not amongst them, with a scuffed attempt from 40 yards barely making it off the ground. However, Gloucester were forced to kick the ball back, but the turnovers kept hurting bath - knock ons, penalties for holding on, passes drifting forward.  Higgins went on a blistering run from midfield to the edge of the 22, only for Bath to once again be penalised at the ruck and turn the ball over.  Gloucester then hung on to the ball, keeping it very tight for the final 2 minutes until Lamb could kick the ball out and they could celebrate a just about deserved victory.

Local bragging rights are now even (though we're currently 16-13 up on aggregate), and Gloucester played well in attack and defended like Trojans to keep Bath out, having taken their one chance when it came. Bath failed to play to their potential, but if we were to have an off game, today was as good a time as any given that we're still in the playoffs, with hopefully three big games still to come.  There was a lot of spirited debate post-match on the merits of the playoffs after
the Gloucester announcer disingenuously declared Gloucester 'regular season champions', but there's a pot up for grabs at Twickenham in three weeks time, and despite the small matter of a trip to Adams Park next week, who'd bet against it being a winner takes all Westcountry rematch?

Referee: Dave Pearson

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