These little West Country love-ins used to have a kith-and-kin, nearest-and-dearest, enemy-next-door feel to them, with familiarity breeding the utmost contempt. Exotica? Not on your nelly. For years, the only outlandish thing about a Gloucester-Bath derby at Kingsholm was Stuart Barnes’ garish “lucky” bow tie, and while the home supporters were indeed bamboozled by the thought that anyone might actually wear such an item in public, there was no confusion over the outside-half’s body language when, on kicking a goal, he would bow before the seething inhabitants of the Shed, adding a two-fingered salute with a mischievous sweep of the arm.

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