JONATHAN Joseph says that he relished his first taste of the West Country derby as Bath battled past rivals Gloucester last Friday.

The 22-year-old former London Irish centre was in the thick of the action as the hosts edged past Gloucester 15-13 under the Rec floodlights, with George Ford kicking all of Bath’s points with five penalties.

“Beating your local rivals is always important, so it was a great result for us,” said Joseph.

“Playing under the floodlights on a Friday is always special and the atmosphere was great. “It was my first derby since coming to Bath and it was a lot different to the double-header when I was at Irish.

“It was definitely a difficult game but we got through it and got the win, which is the most important thing for us.”

Bath have notched up three successive victories in all competitions and Joseph is hoping that his side’s derby triumph will add to their momentum ahead of tonight’s trip to Worcester Warriors.

“The aim is to take last weekend into the Worcester game because it’s going to be a challenge,” he said.

“Their back three are very attacking and they’re all good players so we’re going to have to be wary of the kick-counter but we’re confident of picking up another result.”

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