ASHTON GATE — Bristol defeated Bath 21-19 in a Premiership Rugby match at Ashton Gate on May 4, 2024. The victory lifted Bristol within one point of fourth-placed Exeter in the league standings.

Bristol trailed at halftime but scored 14 unanswered points in the second half, while Bath failed to add to their tally after the break. The hosts’ tries came from Fitz Harding, a penalty try awarded early in the second half, and Max Lahiff, whose score with 13 minutes remaining put Bristol ahead for the first time.

Bath’s tries were scored by Ollie Lawrence, Guy Pepper, and Thomas du Toit. Their momentum was hampered when Henry Arundell was sin-binned in the 44th minute for a deliberate knock-on that denied Louis Rees-Zammit a try, leading directly to Bristol’s penalty try. Bath also had a try by Alfie Barbeary disallowed for a knock-on, and Ted Hill made a try-saving tackle to halt a Bristol attacking sequence.

With time expiring, Bath fly-half Santi Carreras attempted a penalty from inside his own half, but the kick drifted wide, sealing the result. The match was refereed by Karl Dickson.

"We gave a better version of us tonight. We have still never lost to Bath here since I have been here," Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said. He added, "Fitz Harding broke his hand in the first five minutes but he played on, Ellis Genge has done his calf, the boys put their bodies on the line. It was special, a massive win."

Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan acknowledged the narrow loss, saying, "We didn't use all of our opportunities. We had two disallowed tries but that's the game and it came to the last kick of the match." He added, "From our side if that kick goes over it's a different story, it was a great effort, but we move on. We can only run our race and it will come down to the final game. It's brilliant for the Prem. We are at home and we look forward to it."

The win came two weeks after Bristol suffered a 94-33 defeat to Northampton. Finn Russell was absent for Bath due to injury. Bristol is scheduled to play Sale next weekend.