Barbeary double helps nine-try Bath crush Gloucester in Challenge Cup | European Challenge Cup

Bath’s quest for a rare treble of trophies remains on track after a chaotic West Country derby where the Premiership leaders and Premiership Cup holders outscored Gloucester nine tries to four to progress to the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup.

They will meet Edinburgh in the Scottish capital in early May and will start as clear favourites. Get the job done up north and they will face either Lyon or Racing 92 in the final a week before the league playoffs get going. There is a lot of rugby still to be played, but a team full of confidence, one stacked with superstar talent and strength in depth, have given their fans enough evidence to be hopeful of adding more silverware before the summer.

“I’m just glad it’s finished,” the Bath head coach, Johann van Graan, said. “Gloucester are tough to beat and we know the game is never done. We keep saying to each other that it’s the best defence against the best attack.

“It’s the seventh game in a row where we’ve scored 40 points or more. But the most important thing is can we keep the opposition down. Our attack and our defence are working pretty well at the moment.”

This one was never in doubt and had the feel of an exhibition match. Under warm sunshine and with the stands not quite full, it did not match the gravitas of the French derby between Toulon and Toulouse in the Champions Cup quarters a few hours earlier. Eight first-half tries underlined the lighthearted tone.

Some came off the back of well‑worked plays such as Bath’s opener from Tom de Glanville, who put the finishing touches on a move sparked by Finn Russell’s spiralling pass to Ciaran Donoghue, as well as Gloucester’s immediate response where Gareth Anscombe’s inch‑perfect cross-kick found a leaping Santiago Carreras in the corner. Too many scores, though, came courtesy of meek defending.

Gloucester’s lack of heft up front led them to ship a rolling maul try to Tom Dunn and cough up possession at the back of their own lineout before Ross Molony set up tighthead Archie Griffin for a simple run-in. Then Donoghue was too easily stepped by Gloucester’s hooker Jack Singleton before shambolic organisation from the visitors made it too easy for Ben Spencer to round off a blindside move.

Even elite operators were succumbing to mistakes. An inept kick from Russell gifted away possession that ended with a Jacob Morris try in the left corner before Anscombe’s boot returned the favour, merely handing the initiative back to Bath who duly obliged with Alfie Barbeary, the player of the match, scampering on to his own hack ahead to dot down on the stroke of half-time.

Gloucester’s head of rugby, George Skivington, promised before the match that his team had “something up their sleeve”, and he unloaded six forwards off the bench four minutes after the restart. It did not make a difference. The visitors lost a lineout and missed three tackles as Barbeary cantered over for his second. His replacement, Jaco Coetzee, kept the scoreboard ticking by scything through the line and brushing off two tacklers under the poles.

Before the close Ted Hill’s try took Bath past 50, one from Lewis Ludlow nudged the game’s tally past 80 and a final score from Tom Carr‑Smith emphasised the gulf between the neighbours.

“Our depth in the squad is so competitive,” a smiling Barbeary said. “The boys add so much energy off the bench and I don’t think anyone can compete with us.”

Van Graan revealed that he had “three full teams training against each other” on Friday. He used 49 players in the Premiership Cup. His starting full-back in this game has yet to make his league debut.

Much is made of the might of French clubs and how their English counterparts cannot match them. Well, here is one outfit carrying the flag across multiple fronts.