Bath v Gloucester: Bath keen to perform in Gloucester derby after the 'hurt' of record loss last season

Bath fell to their heaviest ever defeat to west country rivals Gloucester when the sides last met in the Premiership in April

Bath want to show "pride" when they face local rivals Gloucester in the Premiership, after falling to a record defeat in the match last season.

Bath suffered a 64-0 whitewash at Kingsholm in April when the two teams last met in the league.

The West Country derby dates back to 1882 with the result six months ago the biggest-ever win for Gloucester.

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan, who took over this summer, said there was a "lot of hurt" from that match.

"I'm looking forward to it. It's the first Bath-Gloucester game I'll have been involved with. Go back to the last game when these two sides met back at Kingsholm and look at the result," Van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We've got to show that there's pride in this team. It's a great opportunity for this group to go out and perform and, for my side, we've got to go out and perform for 80 minutes.

"We reference that [the last meeting] as a group because it's a big derby, but my job is to make sure that we get better each week and we've got to build on the second 40 [minutes].

"From a clarity point of view, we've got to focus for 80 minutes and perform across 80 minutes."

Bath are still searching for their first Premiership win of the season having lost each of their four matches so far.

The team has been decimated by injuries, with winger Will Muir the latest to be ruled out for the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, while Josh McNally and GJ van Velze are both expected to be out for a significant period due to dislocated shoulders suffered in the loss to London Irish.

Bath signed four Worcester players on loan this week, following Warriors' move into administration, with England centre Ollie Lawrence slotting straight into the team's starting XV for his debut in the derby on Saturday at the Rec.

"Gloucester are a class team, they've got potentially the best maul in the Premiership," Van Graan added.

"They've got a very direct approach, they kick a lot in their half and they pin you outside your 22 and if they get penalties there they go to the corner.

"They've got a lot of firepower, so this will be a battle."

Derbies make sport 'special'

George Skivington has been with Gloucester since June 2020

Gloucester head coach George Skivington played down the prospect of Gloucester also signing players from Warriors, who have been suspended and relegated from the league, but refused to rule it out.

"There's not unlimited cash and unlimited space, but there might be some smart things to be done and we need to look deep into things and look at who's available and whether you need them or not," Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

The Cherry and Whites have only played twice so far this campaign and last featured in the Premiership on 24 September when they were beaten by Saracens, following a bye-week and the cancellation of their match with Worcester last weekend.

"I think the derby thing is brilliant," Skivington said.

"Everyone embraces it and enjoys it. I love seeing the supporters, how much it means in both camps, there's lots of banter flying around.

"The objective is to be a bit better than we were against Sarries.

"I think we've analysed that pretty hard and there's some glaringly obvious bits we could be better at that we think would have made a difference to closing the game out.

"The derbies are what makes rugby and sport special, but the important thing for us is that we're better than we were the other week."