Sam Vesty scored his first try of the season and Ian Humphreys kicked nine points on his first appearance of the campaign at the Recreation Ground, but Bath came through as 20-14 winners after a first-half penalty try and then a late score from centre Alex Crockett.
?I am pretty happy with the way we played,? said acting head coach Cockerill. ?The guys acquitted themselves very well against a team who are playing very well.
?The two young props, Dan Cole and Dave Young, stuck to the task manfully and they will be the better for the experience. There were good performances elsewhere in the team. Guys like Luke Abraham, Richard Blaze, Tom Croft, Jordan Crane, they all stood up well, and we looked pretty good in attack at times too.
?In the last 20 minutes, we wanted to play in the right areas of the field but we made some errors and they camped in our half. If you do that, you are almost inevitably going to concede something against a good team.
?But we got the bonus point from a tough away game and we have two home games to come in the competition, so it is not dead by a long way.?
Tigers head straight back into EDF Energy Cup action as they entertain Cardiff Blues at Welford Road this Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).
Tickets are available now from the Tigers ticket office. Contact 08701 28 34 30, call in at Welford Road or click on the tickets section of this website.
