Bath's Ben Spencer says ‘the sky's the limit' after they wrap up historic treble
Leicester came up just short of a fairytale farewell for scrum-half Ben Youngs and prop Dan Cole, who have both called time on their careers after this season and were introduced after the break.
Bath held on after a late Tigers surge narrowed the deficit to two points – despite going down to 14 men after Cole was controversially sent to the sin bin – through a late Emeka Ilione try to raise the Twickenham tension.
TREBLE COMPLETE 🏆🏆🏆@BathRugby are #GallagherPrem champions 🎆#GallagherPremFinal pic.twitter.com/BmDuZ0cKty
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) June 14, 2025
'Just relief, pride,' said Spencer, when asked to sum up his feelings. 'This has taken a lot of hard work from a lot of people. Relief not just for me, but for the players, the staff, and the fans. The fans are a massive part of why I joined the club.
'I think the future of this club is unbelievably bright, no matter who pulls on the shirt. I can't speak highly enough of the guys coming through. Their work ethic is second to none, and as long as we keep our feet on the floor and wanting to get better, the sky's the limit for this team.'
Bath's tries came from Thomas du Toit and Max Ojomoh on what became a brilliant afternoon for Scotland's Finn Russell, who overcame early frustrations to kick 13 points, also teeing up Ojomoh after snatching an interception from inside his own half.
Jack van Poortvliet opened the scoring with a try for Leicester, while second-half tries from Solomone Kata and Ilione nearly sparked a comeback.
Handre Pollard added three Leicester conversions but the World Cup-winning South African fly-half will rue what might have been after a rare penalty miss.
Bath Rugby are Premiership Champions!! 🔵⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/v0GHk24NDT
— Bath Rugby (@BathRugby) June 14, 2025
Tigers twice had men sent to the sin bin – departing captain Julian Montoya late in the first half, while Cole's swansong concluded unceremoniously with a controversial yellow.
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said: 'Our whole focus this season was on winning the Premiership. We gave ourselves that goal, kept that within the circle.'
The South African coach said he would now pause for a moment of reflection before focusing on next season.
He added: 'The day you stand still is the day somebody catches you. You must always train like number two because the other guys are coming. The best is yet to come.'
A season we will never forget.
Fighting until the very end for one another. #COYT 🐯 pic.twitter.com/WZn2CgVoNB
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) June 14, 2025
Leicester head coach Michael Cheika – to be replaced by Geoff Parling – will leave this summer at the end of his one-year contract, in addition to Argentina hooker Montoya, Pollard and former England back Mike Brown.
And although he felt he would get himself 'in strife' for disclosing what he felt about some of the decisions that went against his side – vowing to take it up with the RFU's officiating chief Paul Hull as a 'final bit of banter' – Cheika was delighted by his team's resilience and felt the future of the club was bright.
He added: 'I feel like if we can take those things that are intangible around belief and the standards you need to have to be able to compete, then it won't be long before they are on that podium themselves.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
What does Askou have and what does he need?
There are plenty of unknowns at Fir Park heading into the new season. The change of manager in Jens Berthel Askou. The expected loss of wunderkind Lennon Miller. The corpulent squad that has been trimmed back in given the timing of the new boss' arrival, it's hard to tell what he will inherit. Six players had their contracts end come the campaign's close, while a further 10 left after their loan spells expired. Let's have a look through the squad to see who goal, Aston Oxborough impressed when fit last season. He is expected to stay as number one, with Calum Ward providing back-up. No right-back, there is a surplus of options. Jordan McGhee has arrived from Dundee - although his versatility means he can play centre-back or O'Donnell and captain Paul McGinn are other possibilities, who can also slot into a back-three. There's also Australian Johnny Koutroumbis, who has a battle on his hands for meaningful is trickier. Both Steve Seddon and Dom Thompson are out of contract, leaving just academy product Ewan Wilson. If either of them sign a deal, that side should be shored only two natural centre-backs remaining are Liam Gordon, who enjoyed a decent debut season, and Kofi Balmer, who didn't match those midfield, Miller is expected to depart while Davor Zdravkovski and Harry Paton can walk away for leaves Callum Slattery, who was superb on his return from injury, and Andy Halliday - the player's player of the year at the club last season - as well as new signing Lukas is a serious shortage of wide players. Sam Nicholson missed almost all of last season through injury, with just Tom Sparrow bolstering the senior little Welshman enjoyed an impressive debut campaign but was often shunted to wing-back. He looked better further top, Motherwell need goals. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has more vowels in his surname than Premiership goals so far, while Zach Robinson didn't win over Motherwell fans the way he did in Ebiye is another out of contract, and Filip Stuparevic is recovering from an ACL injury picked up last Maswanhise was so often a bright spark last season and can be relied upon, but his six-goal return needs does Askou need then? Clarity at left-back. At least one centre-back, maybe two. A couple of wingers, and a striker who can score. And desperately, desperately, he needs some pace in the do you think should be high up on Askou's shopping list? Let us know your thoughts HERE.
The Guardian
6 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘A symbol of Italian football': Azzurri appoint Gennaro Gattuso as head coach
Former Milan and Napoli manager Gennaro Gattuso has been appointed Italy national team coach, the Italian football federation (FIGC) confirmed on Sunday. Gattuso replaces Luciano Spalletti, who was sacked last week following a heavy defeat by Norway in a World Cup qualifier. Gattuso will be formally introduced as head coach on Thursday at Rome's Parco dei Principi Hotel. 'Gattuso is a symbol of Italian football - the blue jersey is like a second skin for him. His motivations, his professionalism and his experience will be fundamental to best face the upcoming commitments of the National Team,' FIGC President Gabriele Gravina said in a statement. Gattuso, 47, made 73 appearances for Italy and was a member of the 2006 World Cup-winning squad. He recently left Croatian club Hajduk Split by mutual consent, after a third-placed finish in the country's top flight. More to follow …
BBC News
12 minutes ago
- BBC News
Italy name World Cup winner Gattuso as manager
Italy have appointed former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso as their AC Milan legend replaces Luciano Spalletti, who announced his own sacking at a news conference last 47, made 73 appearances for Italy and was a member of their 2006 World Cup-winning squad, and will now lead his country into the same tournament 20 years won Euro 2020 but failed to qualify for last summer's tournament, and have also not made it to the past two World Cups.A 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat by Norway on 6 June sealed Spalletti's fate. The Italian football federation (FIGC) confirmed Gattuso will be presented to the media on Thursday."Gattuso is a symbol of Italian football," FIGC President Gabriele Gravina said."The blue jersey is like a second skin for him. His motivations, his professionalism and his experience will be fundamental to best face the upcoming commitments of the national team."
