Premiership Rugby final: Bath end 29-year wait for title

14 June 2025, 20:38

Bath have ended a three-decade wait for a Premiership title as captain Ben Spencer declared “the sky’s the limit” after the win against Leicester Tigers.

Bath held off resilient Leicester Tigers to win their first Premiership title in 29 years on Saturday, securing a historic treble with a 23-21 triumph over Leicester at Allianz Stadium.

Leicester came up just short of a fairytale farewell for scrum-half Ben Youngs and prop Dan Cole, who have both called time on their careers after this season and were introduced after the break.

The game was controversial in parts: Leicester was down to 14 men after Cole was sent to the sin bin, but managed a late surge which narrowed the deficit to two points through a late Emeka Ilione try.

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Spencer said he had feelings of “relief [and] pride” after the win.

“This has taken a lot of hard work from a lot of people. Relief not just for me, but for the players, the staff, and the fans. The fans are a massive part of why I joined the club.

“I think the future of this club is unbelievably bright, no matter who pulls on the shirt. I can’t speak highly enough of the guys coming through. Their work ethic is second to none, and as long as we keep our feet on the floor and wanting to get better, the sky’s the limit for this team.”

Bath’s tries came from Thomas du Toit and Max Ojomoh on what became a brilliant afternoon for Scotland’s Finn Russell, who overcame early frustrations to kick 13 points, also teeing up Ojomoh after snatching an interception from inside his own half.

Jack van Poortvliet opened the scoring with a try for Leicester, while second-half tries from Solomone Kata and Ilione nearly sparked a comeback.

Handre Pollard added three Leicester conversions but the World Cup-winning South African fly-half will rue what might have been after a rare penalty miss.

Tigers twice had men sent to the sin bin – departing captain Julian Montoya late in the first half, while Cole’s swansong concluded unceremoniously with a controversial yellow.

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said: “Our whole focus this season was on winning the Premiership.

We gave ourselves that goal, kept that within the circle.”

The South African coach said he would now pause for a moment of reflection before focusing on next season.

He added: “The day you stand still is the day somebody catches you. You must always train like number two because the other guys are coming. The best is yet to come.”

Leicester head coach Michael Cheika – to be replaced by Geoff Parling – will leave this summer at the end of his one-year contract, in addition to Argentina hooker Montoya, Pollard and former England back Mike Brown.

And although he felt he would get himself “in strife” for disclosing what he felt about some of the decisions that went against his side – vowing to take it up with the RFU’s officiating chief Paul Hull as a “final bit of banter” – Cheika was delighted by his team’s resilience and felt the future of the club was bright.

He added: “I feel like if we can take those things that are intangible around belief and the standards you need to have to be able to compete, then it won’t be long before they are on that podium themselves.”