Worcester took an early grip on the game, dominating the opening stages and restricting Bath to defending in their own half. The scrum gave visitors the upper-hand though, the forwards exerting control at the set-piece and allowing Bath to clear their lines.

The advantage at scrum-time allowed Bath to build pressure, and on the 20 minute mark George Ford broke the deadlock with a penalty. 0-3.

Ryan Mills drew the home side level on 33 minutes, before Bath finally broke through the defence. Quick ball worked its way to Jonathan Joseph, who sent a miss-pass wide to Matt Banahan. The winger went inside Worcester fullback Chris Penell, cut back towards the left corner and powered his way through the last-man defence to score. Ford added the conversion, giving Bath the lead, 3-10.

Mills reduced the arrears on the stroke of half-time with a huge penalty from 58 metres, and the score just before the whistle swung the momentum back towards the home side.

Half-time: Worcester Warriors 6 – Bath Rugby 10.

Ford added a further three points to extend the lead, but Worcester clawed themselves back into the game once again as Josh Adams went over in the corner following a break from Ben Te’o. 11-13.

The home side then went ahead into a lead they never relinquished, with replacement Wynard Olivier bursting through a gap in midfield to touch down over the line. Mills added the extra two. 18-13.

A scrum penalty allowed Ford to pull back to within two points, but Worcester quickly rallied. 18-16.

They put Bath under pressure on the line, and whilst the defence worked hard, a quick tap and go penalty saw Will Spencer crash over from short range. Mills was again on target for the conversion. 25-16.

Ford added a penalty going into the final stages of the game to secure the losing bonus point, but the visitors were unable to steal a win in the dying minutes.

Final score: Worcester Warriors 25 – Bath Rugby 19.

Bath Rugby edged out at Sixways

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