Yes, it was a warm-up match – and yes, it was against a youthful Glasgow Warriors side. But Bath Rugby showed plenty in their big win over the Scottish outfit at The Rec on Saturday 6th September to indicate that they are going to have another tremendous season.
Bath opened their pre-season programme by blitzing Glasgow Warriors on 6th September | Photo © Richard Briggs
Treble winners in 2024-25, the Blue, Black & White emerged 47-14 victors of their opening pre-season fixture, impressing in both attack and defence.
The first half was tightly contested, Bath leading 14-7 at the turnaround.
Head coach Johann van Graan made numerous changes for and during the second period to give as many of his squad as possible some valuable game time.
And the hosts went on to blitz Franco Smith’s team, much to the delight of the vast majority of an 11,783-strong crowd.
Bath opened their account in the seventh minute, Harvey Cuckson going over just to the left of the posts and Ciaran Donoghue converting.
However, BKT United Rugby Championship outfit Glasgow levelled with a 19th-minute penalty try, Bath’s Will Jeanes sent to the sin bin.
The hosts regained the initiative in the 28th minute, Thompson Cowan touching down on the left and Donoghue landing the extras.
New signing and replacement Henry Arundell certainly made his presence felt in the opening stages of the second half – by grabbing a brace of tries.
In the 43rd minute he scored in the left corner, Donoghue slotting over the two points. And five minutes later, Arundell nipped over from the back of a maul on the left, Donoghue majoring again for a 28-7 advantage.
Bath bagged their fifth try when Will Butt deceived two defenders and scored on the left in the 51st minute. Donoghue maintained his perfect record with the boot.
The Warriors’ Cameron van Wyk was yellow-carded in the 59th minute after challenging the airborne Tom de Glanville.
But while a man short, Glasgow notched their second try. Brent Jackson capped a great run on the right by touching down, and Dan Lancaster converted.
However, Bath added two more tries to their tally in the closing 10 minutes.
Quinn Roux crossed on the right for the first of these. And then Tom Carr-Smith went over in the right corner, James Linegar completing the scoring with an excellent conversion.
Bath starting XV: 1 Scott Kirk, 2 Jesper Spandler, 3 Kieran Verden, 4 Will Jeanes, 5 Harvey Cuckson, 6 Ewan Richards, 7 Thompson Cowan, 8 Arthur Green, 9 Bernard van der Linde, 10 Ciaran Donoghue, 11 Charlie Griffin, 12 Will Butt, 13 Chris Harris, 14 Austin Emens, 15 Sam Winters.
Bath reps: Henry Arundell, Henry Bartlett, Jack Bennett, Tom Carr-Smith, Joe Cokanasiga, Tom de Glanville, Tom Dunn, Alfie Griffin, Jack Harrison, Neil le Roux, James Linegar, James Maloney, Ross Molony, Max Pearce, Miles Reed, Quinn Roux, Ethan Staddon, Mikey Summerfield, Francois van Wyk, Claudius Wheeler.
Glasgow starting XV: 1 Jake Shearer, 2 Grant Stewart, 3 Fin Richardson, 4 Ryan Burke, 5 Jare Oguntibeju, 6 Macenzzie Duncan, 7 Joe Roberts, 8 Euan Ferrie, 9 Jack Oliver, 10 Matthew Urwin, 11 Ben Salmon, 12 Kerr Yule, 13 Kerr Johnston, 14 Cameron van Wyk, 15 Fergus Watson.
Glasgow reps: Ben Afshar, Dylan Cockburn, Angus Fraser, Dan Halkon, Gregor Hiddleston, Brent Jackson, Dan Lancaster, Nathan McBeth, Josh McKay, Ollie Smith, Seb Stephen, Rory Sutherland, Sam Talakai, Johnny Ventisei, Max Williamson.
The Blue, Black & White will play their second pre-season match when they face Munster at Virgin Media Park in Cork on Friday 12th September.
