De Glanville snatches dramatic late win for Bath over Bristol after Naulago red

A late, late try by Tom de Glanville sealed an incredible comeback victory for Bath against 14-man Bristol in this pulsating Somerset derby. After the impressive lock, Ewan Richards, nearly crashed to the try-line at the death, as Bath hunted the winning score, the Bristol replacement Theo Strang was shown a yellow card for an early tackle.

A decisive penalty try for the home team looked a strong possibility, which the referee Luke Pearce eventually decided against. Ultimately, Bath used their two-man advantage to create the necessary space for De Glanville to crash over and send the Recreation Ground crowd into raptures.

At 21-0 to Bristol with 15 minutes gone, this had been shaping up to be the most sobering afternoon yet in a challenging campaign for Bath. But Siva Naulago’s first-half sending off – and Bath’s stirring fightback – transformed it into a thoroughly absorbing affair.

With Wales’s Taulupe Faletau back from Six Nations duty and Sam Underhill also restored in the back row after illness there was every reason for Bath optimism. But their afternoon could hardly have started any worse: driving lineout mauls on either side of the field resulted in two pushover tries for the Bristol hooker, Harry Thacker, within six minutes.

Naulago stole in at the right corner for the third try on 15 minutes, using his considerable strength to fight off a gaggle of covering defenders. Callum Sheedy curled an exquisite conversion from out wide to maximise the damage.

After the full-back De Glanville wasted an overlap after being fed by Danny Cipriani, the hosts encamped themselves in Bristol’s 22 for a spell and although Thacker was sent to the sin bin for illegally slowing down the ball, Bath were soon being held up over the