Bath end 29-year wait for Premiership title

Gallagher Premiership final

Bath (13) 23

Tries: Du Toit, Ojomoh Cons: Russell 2 Pens: Russell 3

Leicester (7) 21

Bath held off resilient Leicester Tigers to win their first Premiership title in 29 years with a narrow 23-21 victory at Allianz Stadium Twickenham that also completed a 2024-25 treble.

The tense triumph crowns Bath as champions of England for the seventh time in their history but the first since 1996.

They were the trailblazing team in the league this season and went into the final as overwhelming favourites after finishing 11 points clear at the top of the table.

Bath captain Ben Spencer said he “couldn’t be prouder” of the team.

“What an effort – we had to dig deep, fair play to Leicester but I think we deserved it after the year we’ve had,” Spencer said.

Jack van Poortvliet gave Leicester an early lead but Thomas du Toit’s try and another from Max Ojomoh – created by Finn Russell’s show-stopping interception – pushed Bath 13 points ahead.

Solomone Kata pulled back a crucial try for the Tigers but when departing Leicester legend Dan Cole was sent to the sin-bin with 11 minutes to go, Russell slotted a second penalty.

Bath also become the first English team since opponents Leicester in 2001 to seal a treble, after winning the Premiership Rugby Cup and the European Challenge Cup earlier this season.

Leicester captain Julian Montoya, who is among a host of players leaving the club this summer, said it was an “honour” to be a Tiger.

The final was billed as a revival of the rivalry between two giants of English rugby.

The pair won 12 of the first 15 Premiership titles under the league’s previous format and finished as the top two in each of 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2000.

Despite their underdog status, Leicester started more than up for the fight, owning possession in the opening minutes, winning two scrums and the first penalty, allowing Handre Pollard to kick to the corner.

Their pack mauled forward from a line-out and an opportunist Van Poortvliet saw a gap to sneak in.

Russell eased Bath nerves with a penalty but neither side could get into their flow in the midst of a stuttering start.

Bath eventually ramped up the pressure, probing Leicester’s line from the left then right as their forwards picked up the mantle and Du Toit surged over.

And when Montoya was shown a yellow for a high tackle on Ted Hill his side were forced into defensive mode to see out the half.

Leicester have a host of players departing the club this summer including Pollard, who missed a penalty and then saw a pass intercepted by a surging Russell, who sprinted clear when Tigers were enjoying a spell with the ball.

With Ojomoh keeping pace with the Scot on the break, Russell spun a looping pass for his team-mate to dive under the posts.

Guy Pepper’s brilliant strength to shake off two tacklers and touch down in the corner almost stretched Bath’s lead further only for the score to be chalked off for a knock-on by Will Muir.

Tigers seemed spurred on by the let-off and Kata pulled them back into it from close range.

There was still time for more twists as, minutes after coming on for his final appearance before retirement, Cole was sent to the bin for a charging tackle on Russell whose subsequent penalty made it 23-14.

Leicester would not lie down though and Ilione wrestled his way through the Bath bodies to set up a thrilling finale that Johann van Graan’s side managed to see out.

Premiership glory caps a remarkable transformation for Bath under head of rugby Van Graan, who joined in July 2022 weeks after they finished rock-bottom of the league.

While they have undoubtedly been bolstered by world-class additions to the playing squad, the South African has also changed the culture and instilled belief, while keeping the players on the day-to-day job at hand – “never too high, never too low” being his optimum phrase.

That being said, the drive has been bubbling considerably beneath the surface. The front of Van Graan’s notebook has ‘Hunger – the best is yet to come’ printed on it.

Since finishing runners-up in last season’s final by four points to Northampton, Bath have had the best attack and defence through 2024-25, with the most points scored and fewest conceded. They went top of the table in October and stayed there, securing first place with three rounds remaining.

While Leicester managed to take their ensemble of departing stars to Twickenham for their “last dance”, the final was mostly played to Bath’s tune.

There was no fairytale sign-off for the two most capped men in English history, with scrum-half Ben Youngs and Cole retiring as runners-up.

Captain Montoya did not get the winning swansong he wanted, while two-time World Cup winning South African fly-half Pollard finishes his high-profile three years with Tigers without a piece of silverware.

For Tigers boss Michael Cheika, his one-year flyby stint at the helm of Tigers finishes empty-handed.

As the only head coach to win a top-flight competition in both hemispheres – having guided Leinster to Heineken Cup success in 2009 before then taking Waratahs to the Super Rugby crown in 2014 – his sole aim this season was to restore Tigers to trophy-winning ways.

Getting Tigers to the Grand Final and within one win of a record-extending 12th Premiership title, having finished a disappointing eighth in the table 12 months earlier, will still be seen as success of sorts for a club that demands to maintain its place among England’s elite.

He now hands over to rookie head coach Geoff Parling, a Premiership-winning former Tigers player who inherits a side that now says goodbye to some iconic talents but has nonetheless regained much of its pomp in the past 12 months.

Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit; Roux, Ewels, Hill, Pepper, Reid.

Replacements: Annett, Van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Bayliss, Carr-Smith, Donoghue, Barbeary.

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Cole, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Volavola, Perese.

Sin bin: Montoya (28 mins), Cole (69 mins)