Russell's return propels 'top-notch' Bath in derby

Bath remain the team to catch in the Premiership race this season, on the evidence of this entertaining victory over West Country rivals Gloucester.

- Robert Kitson

Assisted by the return of their chief playmaker Finn Russell following the Six Nations the hosts scored six tries and, in a neat piece of symmetry, are six points clear of the field with six regular-season fixtures to play.

It has been an uplifting month for Bath, who won the Premiership Cup last weekend to secure their first trophy for 17 years, and here was another example of their significant squad depth.

Gloucester were right in the contest for long periods, with Santi Carreras outstanding as a creative force, but Bath's superior forward resources were underlined by second-half tries off the bench for the England forwards Will Stuart and Sam Underhill.

Gloucester have now endured five successive defeats in this fixture and could not muster a single second-half point as the home forwards wrested away control of a previously breathless contest.

"I thought Bath's power game today was top-notch," said George Skivington, Gloucester's director of rugby, suggesting the opposition reminded him of the serial title winners Saracens in their heyday.