It's West-Country Derby Time! Bath vs Gloucester

One of the Premiership’s most celebrated rivalries kicks off Round 10 with Bath hosting the Cherry & Whites of Gloucester.

Bath have a new lease on life after their first win in five rounds as they pulled off a win against Sale last weekend at the AJ Bell. It was an impressive performance by the visitors who had not been given much chance before the game owing to their hitherto unfortunate run of form. They struck early with a try after just two minutes – showing good intent – and proceeded to wrestle with their opponents for the remainder of the game which saw them eventually triumph, 27-22.

It was Bath’s second victory of their campaign and the road ahead will be a tough one, but beginning a move forward is always significantly easier with a win under the belt.

Gloucester came agonisingly close to toppling the log-leading Bristol Bears at Kingsholm in Round 9 after an admittedly sloppy showing by the visitors who were unable to inject any sort of momentum into their game. Gloucester owed much to winger Santiago Carreras who snatched a brace of intercept tries in the first half to give his side a decent platform from which to work. It looked as though they could pull it off as the game ticked to a conclusion before a late penalty to Bristol ultimately eclipsed The Cherry & Whites’ hopes.

The last 10 encounters of this west-country rivalry have been heavily dominated by Bath who boast a total of 7victories to Bath’s 2 with one draw occurring – a set of results which do not look too flattering for Gloucester who will have a burning desire to start levelling things up.

What will whet the appetites of the fans will be the memory of the most recent clash between the two which transpired as a cracking game at The Rec.

Gloucester will still be kicking themselves after they took the foot off the gas in that encounter, and the motivation for a big second half will be present in both teams' minds.