It's game day.
Bath Rugby host ASM Clermont Auvergne at the Recreation Ground today in their third pool stage game of the 2024/25 Investec Champions Cup needing a win to stay alive in the hunt for a place in the last 16 knockout round.
The Blue, Black and White sit top of the Gallagher Premiership but Johann van Graan's side have lost their opening two games in Europe, going down 20-24 in the pouring rain to two-time winners La Rochelle at the Rec before a changed up side were narrowly beaten 22-21 in Italy by Benetton. That leaves the English side sitting fifth in Pool 2 in need of a victory. French Top 14 side Clermont sit third in the table after a 28-0 win over Benetton but were beaten 15-7 in Dublin by Leinster in Round Two.
The game kicks off at 5.30pm on Sunday and is being shown live on Premier Sports.
Follow all the build-up, team news, live play-by-play match updates, reac tion, stats, analysis and highlights from the Recreation Ground with regular updates below...
Key Events
Match action
Official player of the match
Broadcasters Premier Sports give the award to double try scorer Thomas du Toit.
FULL TIME - Bath Rugby 40 Clermont 21
Bath have their five point bonus point win.
Clermont have nothing.
Pool 2 is wide open with the Blue, Black and White up to third in the table.
40-21
Knock on
Bath hold out against the initial catch and drive but give up a penalty.
Clermont opt for a 5m tap penalty and Peceli Yato taps and goes himself and loses the ball in contact.
Bath and the Rec celebrate like it was a try.
40-21
One last chance for Clermont
What a kick.
Bath are penalised in the scrum and Sebastien Bezy comes up with a stunning 50m kick to the corner to hand his side a 5m attacking lineout with the attackiung bonus point on the line.
40-21
Josh Bayliss finishing on the wing
With the job done at the Rec, Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan has emptied his bench which sees flanker Josh Bayliss finishing on the wing.
40-21
TRY - Bath Rugby - 40-21
It wasn't pretty but Bath batter their way over the line.
It looks like Francois van Wyk is the man who has just, just got over the line.
Finn Russell has his kicking boots on and sweeps home the left touchline conversion.
40-21
NO TRY - Bath - 33-21
Bath flex their attacking muscles as Tom de Glanville is released down the right.
Play is then swept down the left as Ted Hill shows his prowess as a carrier in front of the watching England head coach Steve Borthwick.
Peceli Yato comes up with a rip and the ball squirts out.
Clermont regather it but are driven over their own try line but Will Stuart.
A TMO check comes in to see if either Stuart or Ben Spencer have in fact dotted the ball down for a try, but the end result is a 5m attacking scrum for the Premiership side.
33-21
Line out woes
Bath are going to need to improve their lineout if they want to progess in this competition.
They have just lost two in quick succession, deep in Clermont territory, and those weren't the first of the night.
33-21
Injury concern
Joe Cokanasiga is limping after taking a knock chasing a kick through from Ben Spencer.
Alivereti Raka fields it in his deadball area and manages to fight his way through the tackle of Cokanasiga to get back into the field of play.
33-21
TRY - Clermont - 33-21
That is a soft entry in the Bath half.
Clermont fly-half Anthony Belleau is hit late as he gets a kick way deep in his half.
The visitors are awarded the penalty where the ball lands and they poke the ball into the corner.
Moments later the forwards pick and drive for the line and three phases later Peceli Yato is over the whitewash for their third try of the game.
Belleau adds the conversion,
33-21
TRY - Bath - 33-14
Bath steal the ball on Clermont's throw at the lineout deep in French side's 22.
Moments later Thomas du Toit shows his textbook ability to get low and keep driving his legs to power over the line despite his way appearing blocked by huge opposition forwards.
Finn Russell crashes his conversion into the near upright and it bounces back out.
33-14
Bath's set piece dominating
Bath's pack get the edge at the scrum to earn a penalty for Finn Russell to kick down-field.
From the resulting line out, Bath blast into the midfield and then attack down the blindside with Finn Russell and Tom de Glanville showing silky hands, but Quinn Roux's attempt to set Joe Cokanasiga free is less successful with the ball going into touch.
28-14
TRY - Bath - 28-16
Bath have the attacking bonus point wrapped up.
Thomas du Toit powers over from close range after Tom Dunn went close a moment before.
Finn Russell adds the conversion from right in front of the posts.
Now the hosts must deny Clermont anything from this game.
28-14
Bath making hard work of it
This second half has been very stop start.
Bath are looking to go wide too quickly and Clermont are just shuffling over and making good one on one tackles.
But Peceli Yato is penalised for a high tackle on Alfie Barbeary to allow Finn Russell to kick to the corner.
21-14
NO TRY - Clermont - 21-14
Well that was a comedy of errors.
Finn Russell is hit hard by Pierre Fouyssac and the ball goes lose.
Full back Alex Newsome hacks the ball on and Joe Cokanasiga twice fails to clean up the bouncing ball and Clermont regather and feed fly-half Anthony Belleau who touches down in the corner.
But a TMO review shows there was a knock on during the tackle on Spencer and play is walked back to the edge of the French side's 22.
21-14
Match action
HALF TIME - Bath Rugby 21 Clermont 14
Bath are nearly there in terms of ticking off their objectives from the game having scored three tries through Tom de Glanville, Finn Russell, and Joe Cokanasiga.
The Blue, Black and White need a bonus point win and need to prevent Clermont from gaining any points from the contest ideally.
The French side have another 40 minutes to play a man down having lost Georgian prop Giorgi Akhaladze to a red card after 25 minutes.
21-14
TRY - Clermont - 21-14
That is great character and spirit for Clermont who have got the try they deserve having been camped in the Bath half for the last few minutes.
There is a big slice of luck about it as the ball bounces off the head of a Clermont forward who was coming on a short crash line. The ball bounce into the hands of fly-half Anthony Belleau who breaks a weak tackle from Finn Russell right on the try line to score.
Belleau adds the extras.
21-14
Finding a gap
Clermont scrum half Baptiste Jauneau spots a chink of light and explodes through it, spinning out of a tackle from Quinn Roux.
Moments later Alfie Barbeary is penalised for a tip tackle that allows the French side to kick to the corner.
21-7
TRY - Bath Rugby - 21-7
That is beautiful.
Finn Russell chips a kick over the top of the Clermont defence which Max Ojomoh takes on the full and then offloads back inside to Joe Cokanasiga who has the pace to race home untouched from 25m out.
Russell adds the conversion.
21-7
RED CARD - Clermont
I am not sure about that call from referee Mike Adamson.
Giorgi Akhaladze is shown a red card for making a high tackle with his shoulder making contact with the face of Max Ojomoh.
The referee could have found mitigation if he was looking for it as Ojomoh dipped a bit, but he goes nuclear.
Advantage Bath.
14-7
Drive halted
Bath complete their lineout 5m out and set a maul around catcher Ted Hill, but Peceli Yato manages to come through the middle and wrap the ball up, preventing it coming out to win a turnover.
14-7
Stunning kick
Ben Spencer is so alert. The Bath captain spots there is no one at home in the Clermont back-field and pokes a kick right into coffin corner.
Rapid winger Bautista Delguy gets back to field the bouncing ball which he hopes will roll into the dead ball area but the pill holds up and a great chase from Finn Russell forces him to simply run the ball out close to his tryline with a lineout for Bath to come.
14-7
Ollie Lawrence playing with intensity
Having been in the middle of a minor storm last week following suggestions he dived to eek out a yellow card, Ollie Lawrence is looking explosive with the ball in hand tonight.
The English international centre doesn't have to break stride to run onto a perfect pass from Finn Russell and he gets over the gainline but then tries an out the back offload which is intercepted to end the danger.
14-7
Clermont hooker doing damage
Bath get their lineout drill all wrong as Tom Dunn overthrows Ted Hill who is barely off the ground in the jumping pod.
Clermont hooker Folau Fainga'a takes at the back as the tail gunner and blasts across field into the English side's backline who had been standing deep expecting to attack.
14-7
TRY - Clermont - 14-7
Clermont hooker Folau Fainga'a blasts his way over the tryline from a foot out despite the best efforts of Miles Reid and Tom Dunn to stop him and hold him up.
Anthony Belleau adds the easy conversion.
14-7
