Premiership semi-final: Bristol lead at West Country rivals Bath

BBC News

a day ago

Update:
Date: 13 mins
Title: Penalty
Content: Bath 0-3 Bristol
Bristol strike first as they work the ball in from the right after a break from Noah Heward and win a penalty infront of the posts which is meat and drink for AJ MacGinty.
Update:
Date: 11 mins
Title: Post
Content: Bath 0-0 Bristol
First glimpse of Bath's ability with ball in hand as the ball is worked wide right to Tom de Glanville, but he runs out of space and his hopeful chip forward is straight to AJ MacGinty who calls a mark and relieves the pressure.
Update:
Date: 10 mins
Title: Post
Content: Bath 0-0 Bristol
It's already apparent that Bath do not want to allow their visitors to build up a head of steam and start working the ball around... they have taken a couple of opportunities to launch the ball into touch in midfield to reset and regroup already, the latest from Tom de Glanville.
Update:
Date: 7 mins
Title: Post
Content: Bath 0-0 Bristol
Ellis Genge is a proud Bristol boy and you can see how much this means to him in his 60th appearance for the Bears. He is in the middle of everything but he also needs to keep a lid on his emotions.
He's up against his potential Lions team-mate Will Stuart in the scrum tonight, with double World Cup winner Thomas du Toit on the bench for Bath.
Update:
Date: 19:53 BST
Title: 'Really poor play from Bristol'
Content: Bath 0-0 Bristol
Gareth ChilcottEx-England and Bath prop on BBC Radio Bristol
That is the worst possible start for Bristol. Completely out of order.
Maybe it's the nerves but it was really poor play.
It's silly to give away a reversal penalty in a really tight game early on.
They're on the rack now.
Update:
Date: 5 mins
Title: Post
Content: Bath 0-0 Bristol
Wave after wave of pressure from Bath within five metres of the Bears line, but the visitors' defence stands firm, for now...
Ellis Genge is in the middle of everything and manages to hold the ball up as the hosts try to get over the line and the Bears are able to clear their lines and catch their breath.
Update:
Date: 3 mins
Title: Post
Content: Bath 0-0 Bristol
Full-blooded start as Bath kicked into touch on halfway from their own 22, Bristol win the lineout and secure a penalty in midfield but now the heated Ellis Genge has talked his way into trouble with ref Christophe Ridley awarding the hosts a penalty allowing the hosts to kick towards the Bristol 22.
Update:
Date: 1 min
Title: Kick-off
Content: Bath 0-0 Bristol
Away we go... the Bears get us under way, playing in white and black tonight, whereas Bath are in their familiar black, blue and white.
Twickenham awaits for one of these sides...
Update:
Date: 19:44 BST
Title: Post
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Right, up to speed? Good... the players are on the field at the Rec, packed to the rafters, and kick-off is moments away.
We've had fireworks off the pitch, let's start them on it.
Update:
Date: 19:44 BST
Title: 'There will be lot of nerves tonight'
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Gareth ChilcottEx-England and Bath prop on BBC Radio Bristol
It's a massive game for both clubs and it's a game of contrasts.
We have a brilliant game in store for us.
There'll be lot of nerves tonight.
Update:
Date: 19:43 BST
Title: Three changes for Bears
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
England prop Ellis Genge returns to the Bristol starting line-up having missed last weekend's victory over Harlequins through injury.
Genge is one of three changes to Pat Lam's pack with lock James Dun and flanker Steven Luatua also back - Yann Thomas, Pedro Rubiolo and Santiago Grondona drop out - while the backline remains unchanged.
Bristol boss Lam confirmed on Wednesday that Lions selection Genge and Dun had overcome knocks picked up in training while Luatua is preferred to Argentine international Grondona, who scored twice in Bristol's victory at Bath earlier this season, at blind-side.
Lock Joe Batley, selected in the Premiership Team of the Season, joins Dun in the second row with Fitz Harding leading the team from open-side.
The experienced AJ MacGinty starts at fly-half alongside scrum-half Harry Randall while South African Bernhard Janse van Rensburg and James Williams are the centre pairing.
Wing Gabriel Ibitoye, the Premiership's joint top try-scorer this season with 13, is joined by Fijian flyer Kalaveti Ravouvou and Noah Heward in the back three.
Bristol: Heward; Ravouvou, Van Rensburg, Williams, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Kloska, Dun, Batley, Luatua, Harding (c), Mata.
Replacements: Thacker, Woolmore, Lahiff, Rubiolo, Grondola, Marmion, Byrne, Bates.
Update:
Date: 19:42 BST
Title: All change for Bath
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Bath boss Johann van Graan unsurprisingly names an entirely different XV to the second-string team that started the 36-26 defeat at Saracens last Saturday.
Guy Pepper starts at open-side flanker in place of the suspended Sam Underhill while Ted Hill makes his 50th appearance for the club at blind-side and Alfie Barbeary completes the back row at number eight with Miles Reid on the bench.
Springboks prop Thomas Du Toit, named in the Premiership Team of the Season, starts on the bench for Bath with director of rugby Johann van Graan opting for England and British and Irish Lions selection Will Stuart (pictured) at tight-head.
Captain Ben Spencer and Finn Russell are restored at half-back while Max Ojomoh partners Scotland international Cameron Redpath at centre and Will Muir, Joe Cokanasiga and Tom De Glanville make up the back three.
Another Team of the Season pick, hooker Tom Dunn, and Beno Obano join Stuart in the front row with the established duo of Quinn Roux and Charlie Ewels making up the second row and flanker Josh Bayliss among six forwards on the bench.
Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Stuart, Roux, Ewels, Hill, Pepper, Barbeary.
Replacements: Annett, van Wyk, Du Toit, Molony, Reid, Carr-Smith, Donoghue, Bayliss.
Update:
Date: 19:40 BST
Title: 'Bristol won't fear the task'
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Sophie HurcomBBC Sport at The Rec
As soon as Bristol's fourth place in the Premiership was confirmed last Saturday, director of rugby Pat Lam was speaking about the Bears' record against their neighbours Bath.
Lam and Bristol will be under no illusions about the challenge they face against Bath this evening, but they definitely won't fear the task in front of them. Since Johann van Graan took over Bath in July 2022, Bristol have beaten them five out of six times they have met in the Premiership – including the double this season.
That being said, Gloucester boss George Skivington said in April that beating Bath at the Rec was one of the 'biggest challenges' in European rugby at the moment.
If Bristol can win tonight and book that place in the Twickenham final, it will surely go down as one of their greatest victories.
Update:
Date: 19:38 BST
Title: Ewels wary of Bears threat
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Bath lock Charlie Ewels is wary of the threat of Bristol, having lost twice to their west country rivals in the regular season.
Bristol prevailed 36-26 at the Rec in October before running-out 36-14 winners at the Principality Stadium last month.
"They're a very good team, that's what I've taken from those matches, he said. "Obviously there's an extra level as it's a derby around the fans.
"We've played them a few times this season - in the cup, twice in the league. At Cardiff we played different teams against them.
"They will be very well prepped, we'll be very well prepped and we'll be really looking forward to it."
Ewels has emphasised his side's need to "trust the process", a similar mantra coined by his coach last month, in order for Bath to go one step further and win the Premiership on 14 June to complete an historic treble.
Update:
Date: 19:36 BST
Title: 'Dream game' for Bears boss
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Bristol Bears' Premiership semi-final against Bath has been described as a "dream game" by director of rugby Pat Lam.
Lam's side go into tonight's match as underdogs having finished the season fourth, 14 points behind their local rivals in the regular season standings.
However, a league double over Bath this season backs up Lam's notion that his side "know how to beat Bath" - a defiant claim made following his side's 52-26 victory against Harlequins which confirmed Bears' play-off spot.
"We're proud of that record, but it's the next one that counts," Lam told BBC Radio Bristol.
"We've never played a derby game as a semi-final and for us we've never been in a final. It is the dream game really.
"There's so much interest in it. We've already picked that up from both sets of supporters. There's good banter going back and forth.
"Our goal was never to just get in the top four though; this is just the first stage," Lam added.
Update:
Date: 19:34 BST
Title: Bath boss urges side to keep discipline
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan has urged his side to keep their discipline in their Premiership semi-final against Bristol on Friday.
Van Graan's side finished the regular season with 72 points, 11 points clear at the top of the Premiership standings, and 14 clear of fourth-placed Bristol.
But the South African is wary of the threat Bath's local rivals pose, having lost twice to the Bears in the league this season already.
"This is our third semi-final we've played this season and I'll just say the usual - make sure you're disciplined, stick to what you do and make sure you perform on the day," Van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol.
It has been a historic season in many ways already for Bath, having already completed a cup double by winning the Premiership Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup - ending a drought of 17 years without a trophy.
Update:
Date: 19:32 BST
Title: Play-off coaches on season finale
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Chris JonesBBC rugby union correspondent
English rugby's top coaches say they are determined to revel in the pressure of leading their sides into do-or-die Premiership semi-finals this weekend.
"If you can't love this, then get another job," says Bath's Johann van Graan.
After 18 rounds of the regular campaign, two sides will emerge from this weekend to reach the final on 14 June at a sold-out Twickenham, with Leicester hosting Sale on Saturday.
In a special Rugby Union Weekly podcast, we were joined exclusively by all four of the men plotting to lead their team to Premiership glory, just days before the biggest game of their season.
Pat Lam of Bristol said: "I use that word 'privilege'. When you look at the Champions League final, PSG winning 5-0, that is a team that decided to go out and enjoy themselves.
"Every time I have these moments I feel just privileged to be here and feel lucky to be doing what we do."
Van Graan added: "This game is not about fear. This game is about attacking it - and may the best team win.
"What would the world be without sport? I'm privileged to be part of it and part of a team that wants to achieve.
"And if we want to get to the next stage, we've got to get past a very good team on Friday night."
Update:
Date: 19:30 BST
Title: Who will survive Western shootout?
Content: Bath v Bristol (19:45 BST)
Welcome to your weekend... boy, do we have a treat in store for you under the Friday night lights!
It's the business end of the Premiership season and tonight will see the first semi-final as table-topping Bath welcome a dangerous Bristol Bears side to the Rec.
A place in the Twickenham final next weekend is at stake, with Leicester and Sale set to face off on Saturday to decide who will face tonight's winners.
The Rec is a perfect setting for this showdown between two free-scoring sides on what might eventually end up being a wet and windy night in the wild west.
Kick-off is 15 minutes away so let's quickly bring you up to speed...