The Blue, Black and Whites were reduced to 12 men at one stage of the second half due to two sendings off and a sin bin and Irish benefitted from the numerical advantage to reach their final tally of 36 points.

Most sides would have conceded the result after the setbacks Bath endured; however, the group rallied, played smart rugby and produced a 20-minute performance of unity to score two tries and earn try and losing bonus points.

“Going down to 12 men was obviously a pretty big part of the game,” tryscorer McNally said.

“The character of the boys to come together was brilliant and we found a pressure point in our set-piece that we could go after. We can take a lot of positives from being able to dig it out in the last 15 minutes and get two bonus points.

“To be in that position to start with isn’t great and we’ve got to be on top of that discipline, but it gives us some positives to take into next week.”

As well as the spirited comeback, Bath saw two homegrown Senior Academy players achieve milestones.

Orlando Bailey earned his first Premiership start while Max Ojomoh came on for a deserved league debut.

“This year has been very unique and the young guys have been struggling for game time,” McNally commented.

“We’ve seen these guys tearing it up in training each week. They have taken their opportunity with both hands and there was never a chance of us doubting them.

“It’s class to see the young guys coming through; we’ve seen a few this year and there are loads more.”

McNally praises Bath character after narrow loss at Irish

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