Week five of the 2023/24 Premiership Rugby season gets underway with one of the fiercest rivalries in English domestic rugby, as Gloucester hosts bitter rivals Bath in the West Country derby at Kingsholm.
In a rivalry that has spanned over decades, Bath came away with the bragging rights the last time these two met, beating out theΒ Cherry and Whites 33-24, but fans and players of the Blue, Black and Whites are still plagued by theΒ 64-0 drubbing at the hand of GloucesterΒ in April last year and will look to avoid that embarrassment again.
With both teams opening up the season with two wins in their first two games, followed by two successive losses, it is a game that has great league table implications but has even greater derby day desires.
Gloucester look to change their Friday fortunes
Gloucester’s most recent game came against Sale Sharks last Friday night, but they could not seal the win away from home, losing 24-10.
However, with a packed-out Kingsholm expected for the Friday night game, the Cherry and Whites will be hoping the home crowd can reverse last week’s fortunes and earn a victory against their biggest rivals.
βGloucester v Bath is a brilliant traditional rivalry, and itβs the most looked forward to the game in the calendar for both clubs and their fans,” said Gloucester’s Director of Rugby George Skivington.
βKingsholm is always a brilliant atmosphere, and we love playing here, but Gloucester v Bath is special.β
Gloucester are boosted by a returning quintet from international duty at the World Cup in France, highlighted by English winger Jonny May starting on the wing, and Argentinian international Santiago Carreras will take the number 15 shirt.
Along with Welsh speedster Louis Rees-Zammit on the bench, the Argentines of Mayco Vivas and Matias Alemanno also return to the starting XV.
βItβs great to see some returning faces back in the squad,” continued Skivington.
βWe gave our World Cup players some time off to see their families and come back in fresh and itβs been great to see them back in training this week.β
However, Gloucester will be missing former Bath number eight Zach Mercer, who will be on the sidelines for a significant amount of time after needing ankle surgery. Mercer has beaten more defenders in the league than any other Premiership player, and he will be a major loss for the Cherry and Whites.
Bath boosted by returning players after Saints loss
Bath also come into tonight’s crunch match on the back of a tight 24-18 loss to Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens last weekend.
Bath Rugby reporter for Somerset Live Sam Jess spoke about that loss and said, “The first half against Northampton was a very poor display. There were lots of handling errors and silly mistakes, and it was not a good look.
“But the last two performances have not been great, and they have only lost by a total of seven points, so there are plenty of positives to take from the start of the season.”
A return to winning ways for the Blue, Black and Whites against Gloucester for Johann van Graan’s men will get their season back on track, which started with two promising wins against Newcastle and Saracens.
Jess believes the Blue, Black and White’s can steal the derby day spoils at Kingsholm, but it is “one of the biggest West Country derbies in recent years.”
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“If they win tonight, they will go on and play well and beat Bristol next week, I believe. But this game and next week against Bristol is massive for the playoff aspirations.”
“But, if they win tonight and go on to win next week, the top four is in their grasp. In my preview, I said it would be 26-18 to Bath, and I’m sticking by it!”
Head coach Johann Van Graan has made eight changes after last week’s loss, highlighted by the return of centre and last year’s Premiership Player of the Season Ollie Lawrence, who also returns from World Cup duty in France.
Prop Will Stuart also starts after England duty, along with Sam Underhill in the number seven shirt, and Tom Dunn will make his 201st appearance in a Blue, Black and White shirt.
In the backs, Finn Russell comes back into the matchday 23 to start at fly-half alongside captain Ben Spencer, giving Bath a significant attacking boost.
