Bath Rugby impose 12-try thrashing on derby rivals Bristol Bears in the Premiership Rugby Cup

Bath Rugby put Bristol Bears to the sword with a 78-19 victory in the Premiership Rugby Cup, with the home side scoring 12 tries as they brushed aside the visitors at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

In a hugely positive game for the home side which they dominated from start to finish, it highlighted the strength in depth that the Blue, Black and White have at their disposal, both in their squad and the academy. A youthful Bears side, with the squad strained by having played Australia XV in a 10-10 draw just 18 hours earlier, were second-best throughout the 80 minutes, unable to get anywhere near Bath in a scoreline that reflected a surprisingly large gap between the sides.

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Braces were the theme of the day for Bath with Will Parry, Louie Hennessey, Tom Carr-Smith and Ruaridh McConnochie all touching down twice each, with single scores from the impressive Kepu Tuipulotu, Ethan Staddon, Arthur Green and Tyler Offiah. With Orlando Bailey adding six points from three conversions and Ciaran Donoghue landing 12 points from six conversions.

Bristol came away from the game without even a bonus point, scoring just three tries through Joe Jenkins, Will Capon and Aidan Boshoff, with makeshift fly-half Rich Lane adding two conversions in his first game at 10 in his professional career.

Five minutes was all it took for Bath to get on the scoresheet thanks to flanker Ethan Staddon, with the try all coming from exciting prospect Kepu Tuipolotu. The hooker caught the ball from an overthrown Bristol lineout, bouncing off tackles to sublimely carry from Bath's 22-metre line all the way to the Bears' 22-metre line. Quick recycling from the Blue, Black and White meant a recovering Bristol defence could not stop Staddon from breaking down the left wing to score.

Parry then crossed the whitewash for Bath's second try just seven minutes later, with captain Ewan Richards brilliantly poaching the ball from the ruck to then break away. A great line from outside centre Louie Henssessy breached the Bears' defence again, and he fed Parry on his inside shoulder to cross the line.

Hennessey then got his name on the scoresheet himself on 17 minutes. Loosehead prop Arthur Cordwell was the latest to break through the Bears' wilting defence. The ball was shipped out to the left, and a great step inside from Hennessey meant he raced through and dived over the line with ease.

Bath then earned themselves a bonus point after just 22 minutes, with the rolling maul working to great effect to allow the brilliant Tuipulotu to score.

Bristol finally had something to cheer about through the inside centre Joe Jenkins, with his try finally giving the Bears some points after continued pressure in Bath's five-metre line. However, it was Bath who had the final word at the end of a dominant first half, with scrum-half Tom Carr-Smith selling the perfect dummy to slip through the Bristol defence and race in from the 22-metre line for the home side's fifth try in what was a rout of a first half, leading 31-7 at half time.

Just five minutes into the second half Bath struck again with Ruaridh McConnochie finally getting the ball in his hands after a very quiet first 40 as Bath cashed in on the build-up of phases. The former England international went airborne to avoid the tackle of Deagon Bailey and score in the corner.

Bath's seventh compounded Bristol's misery, with Parry getting arguably the easiest try of his career. Inexplicably, the Bears looked to play inside their own five-metre line, and a poor pass from Jack Bates could not find the hands of Jenkins, meaning Parry scooped up the loose ball right in front of the post, diving straight over from just two metres out.

It then went from bad to worse for the away side, with replacement Toby Baker flinging his first pass of the game straight into the hands of Carr-Smith who had the pace to finish from 50m out.

Bath then added their ninth try and the best of the lot, with McConnochie adding his second in a busy second half. Sumptuous attacking rugby from the Blue, Black and White from a lineout allowed Parry to play a lovely ball out the back to Hennessey, creating an overlap on the left wing. Hennessey then fed McConnochie in, and he raced from outside the 22 all the way to the line.

A pair of yellow cards were then traded between two teams, both for cynical play at the breakdown. Centre Jenkins was sent to the bin for the Bears, and substitute scrum-half Neil Le Roux followed for Bath. Bristol were able to finally earn some second-half points after Le Roux's yellow card, with hooker Capon crashing over the line from the Bears' driving maul after they successfully fielded their own lineout after multiple overthrows.

However, Bath then resumed with their demolition, with Hennessey getting his second of the game. Bath built-up play through the forwards, with lock Will Jeanes having a great carry to put Bath in the perfect attacking position. Despite no scrum-half at the breakdown, a super pass set Hennessey through, and he was the man to give the Blue, Black and White their tenth try and put an exclamation mark on the game.

Bristol got their third try after 75 minutes with fly-half Lane finding a hole in the Bath defence to break through from his own half, and after a great covering tackle, the ball went out to Boshoff who was in acres of space on the left wing, darting over and scoring the Bears' third try of the game.

But Bath were not done and substitute Arthur Green peeled off a driving maul brilliantly late on, finding no one at home in the Bristol defence. He scampered through from over five metres out and notched up 70 points for the Blue, Black and White.

The icing on the cake then came in the shape of a Tyler Offiah intercept on the ten-metre line, allowing the winger to race through and score on debut, spectacularly diving over to put an exclamation mark on what was a stunning performance from Bath, and a hugely disappointing performance from the Bears.

Bath Rugby: 15 Ciaran Donoghue, 14 Charlie Griffin, 13 Louie Hennessey, 12 Will Parry, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Tom Carr-Smith; 1 Arthur Cordwell, 2 Kepu Tuipulotu, 3 Kieran Verden, 4 Will Jeanes, 5 Ewan Richards, 6 Ethan Staddon, 7 Thompson Cowan, 8 Alfie Barbeary.

Replacements: 16 John Stewart, 17 Mikey Summerfield, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Mackenzie Graham, 20 Arthur Green, 21 Neil Le Roux, 22 James Short (debut), 23 Tyler Offiah (debut)

Bristol Bears: 15. Harry Rowson (8 apps), 14. Deago Bailey (12 apps), 13. Jack Bates (41 apps), 12. Joe Jenkins (16 apps), 11. Aidan Boshoff (1 app), 10. Rich Lane (41 apps), 9. Sam Edwards (1 app); 1. Yann Thomas (115 apps), 2. Will Capon (91 apps), 3. George Kloska (49 apps) (c), 4. Kenzie Jenkins (1 app), 5. Peter Paramore* (debut), 6. Paddy Pearce (8 apps), 7. Theo Mayell* (debut), 8. Aaron Tull (5 apps).

Replacements: 16. Tomas Gwilliam (2 apps), 17. Louie Trevett (1 app), 18. Jimmy Halliwell (3 apps), 19. Ethan Surrey (debut), 20. Ed Timpson (debut), 21. Oscar Lennon/Cai Gealy (debut), 22. Toby Baker (1 app), 23. Jacob Cusick (debut).

Referee: Hamish Smales

Assistant referees: Calum Howard and James Clarke