Aviva Premiership

Gloucester 16 Bath 39

ENGLAND centre Billy Twelvetrees believes Gloucester need to be ‘a bit smart’ to finish off sides after suffering a crushing defeat to arch West Country rivals Bath at Kingsholm on Saturday.

The defeat, a record home loss to the men from The Rec, leaves Gloucester in ninth place in the table and 10 points adrift of fourth spot, the least they will have to achieve if they want to be involved in the end-of-season play-offs.

And after 10 Premiership matches, Gloucester have lost more than they have won, going down six times so far as opposed to a mere four wins.

All of which means that the next three months, beginning with a home clash with Wasps on Sunday – who are one place above the Cherry and Whites – will be crucial. Victory in that fixture is imperative if Gloucester want to be involved in the final chase for the silverware.

Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys, however, will have his Premiership programme interrupted again by the European Challenge Cup and LV= Cup fixtures plus the Six Nations Championship in which he is likely to lose star men such as Twelvetrees, wing Jonny May and No.8 Ben Morgan to England’s campaign.

The Wasps game kicks off a trio of big matches in which Gloucester will need to get something or face a fourth season when the top sides run away from them.

Sunday’s game is followed by a trip to high-flying Exeter Chiefs and then a crunch home fixture with fourth-placed Saracens, who beat the Cherry and Whites 28-21 at Allianz Park on October 11.

Gloucester’s demise against Bath last weekend was not as bad as the score suggests. They could have been level at 15-15 at half-time had two long-range penalties gone over instead of dropping short.

Scrum half Greig Laidlaw and Bath’s England fly half George Ford were involved in a goal-kicking duel in the first period, with Ford winning it 5-3.

But when Ford landed a sixth penalty at the start of the second half, along with Gloucester replacement prop Sila Puafisi being sin-binned and Bath subsequently winning a penalty try, the match got away from the Cherry and Whites.

It was not for the want of trying, however. Gloucester put together some outstanding rugby inside the opposition 22 on three occasions either side of the break, but Bath’s defence was as solid as the Great Wall of China – there was simply no way through.

So when visiting replacement flanker Matt Garvey went over for two tries, that signalled the end of Gloucester’s resistance.

The Cherry and Whites finally broke through the defensive wall, as replacement Dan Robson ran in from 22 metres for a try that fly half James Hook converted from the touchline, but it was nothing more than a consolation.

Twelvetrees described the dressing room after the match as 'stony silent'. The centre said: “It is always frustrating. Losing at home is bad enough but losing to Bath at home is never something you want to be involved in.

“It is bitterly disappointing. It was a very quiet dressing room and everyone is pretty frustrated. But fair play to Bath, they are a pretty well-drilled side and they showed that. Their set piece was strong and caused us some trouble.”

So, even at this midway point of the season, the Wasps clash takes on more importance for both teams. Twelvetrees added: “It is just another huge game. Losing at home is never great and you just want to get straight back on to the wagon and put a performance in.

“We owe it not just to ourselves but the supporters. We have huge belief in this squad and just because of one result, that is not going to change. We showed that against Bath in that the pressure we put on teams means we have just got to finish off chances.

“We have got a great squad and we just have to be a bit smart in putting teams away. The top six in this league are very good teams and you have to be consistent and play well to get up there, which is not us at the moment.”

Gloucester coach Humphreys admitted: “Against the top teams, you have to create opportunities and take them. It is something we have talked about throughout the season. In a lot of games, we have created opportunities but then there have been bad decisions and poor execution has cost us.

“We have said all along that if we want to compete against the top teams, we have to make sure that we take those opportunities, of which there were two or three in this game against Bath.”