Charlie Ewels' heart and endeavour proves all is not lost for Bath

• Harlequins 31 Bath 17

After their record defeat to Saracens last week everything seemed like it was crumbling for Bath. Leadership was needed, and although they notched up a fifth loss in a row against defending champions Harlequins on Saturday - their worst ever start to the Premiership - Charlie Ewels made sure he stepped up to be counted.

The 26 year-old made 17 tackles - more than any other player on the pitch - and it would seem his influence, combined with that of Sam Underhill, who is also England-bound and made 10 tackles, will be crucial to any hopes of a revival.

Both the second row and the openside gave something that cannot be quantified by statistics - heart and leadership in the most difficult of circumstances. There were times when Harlequins - a team whose hallmark is attacking prowess - were thwarted by a dogged but still imperfect Bath defence, marshalled by Underhill. The flanker also led by example with Bath’s opening try and a second from Will Stuart saw the visitors lead 17-12 at the interval.

Ewels spoke after the game about his side understandably lacking confidence and that could be seen in Danny Cipriani’s contribution off the bench. The 33 year-old has lacked his usual verve and spark but there remains hope on two fronts that all is not lost. Cipriani faces stiff competition for the No 10 shirt from 20-year-old Orlando Bailey, and the signing of scrum-half Joe Simpson on loan from Gloucester for an initial three months should aid the veteran as the two had a fruitful partnership at Wasps.

Simpson has been a lively and savvy addition to the Bath back division but went off injured in the second half. The West Country side also have another experienced scrum-half in Ben Spencer, who is a steadying presence but who has been out since their opening fixture against Sale with a hamstring injury. He should return for the crucial latter stages of competition.

With a bevvy of international talent in their ranks, it has been said that Bath are less than the sum of their parts this season, although Saturday’s performance at the Stoop, along with the narrow loss to Bristol three weeks ago, shows they can play as a collective.

With Ewels, Underhill and Stuart all now departing for England duty, and Anthony Watson out with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, any progress made against Quins could be interrupted, but with Bailey growing in confidence alongside 21-year old inside centre Max Ojomoh, they still possess youthful fearlessness.

Then there are those less-glittering names who will be key over the coming weeks. Centre Max Clark was strong defensively with 12 tackles as was former Sevens star Richard de Carpentier in the back row, on debut, with 13 tackles - second only to Ewels.

Bath now must take this endeavour and use it to push for an elusive win against Wasps next weekend if they are to truly redeem themselves.

Harlequins vs Bath: as it happened

It was a tale of two clubs at different ends of the tables as Bath racked up another record they would rather forget in five successive losses and their worst ever start to a Premiership season.

Despite a gutsy first-half showing Stuart Hooper's side fell to defending champions Harlequins, who secured a try-scoring bonus point that moves them up to second in the table.

Director of rugby Hooper must have winced when Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen went over for a try in the corner after just four minutes. Slow starts have been the scourge of the West Country side so far this season - none worse than last week when they were 45-0 down at half-time against Saracens and eventually lost in a Premiership record of 71-17.

Bath’s back division were already patched up due to Watson’s ACL rupture but further disruption was caused before kick off when Jonathan Joseph was withdrawn from the starting line up. Ojomoh - one of Bath’s few positive storylines this season - instead started at inside centre with Clarke moving outside him.

Bath captain Ewels gave an impassioned view on how his side were fighting for confidence and that there must be unity as his side continue their hunt for a first win of the season against Wasps next week.

“We saw today in the changing rooms just how willing lads were to put their bodies on the line and we saw that in the week with how lads are willing to prepare,” he said.

“There is a bit of a confidence thing for us at the moment. Harlequins are a team that have been winning games and have confidence and we are a team trying to find confidence. But ultimately in these situations, if you start looking for answers outside, you won’t find them; you’ll all split up.

“There are a thousand ways to play rugby and it's about us all being on the same page and playing the one way - that is about coming tighter together and believing one thing and one way to play.”

Bath clawed an early penalty back through the boot of Bailey, who started in place of Cipriani, but doom and gloom built as Esterhuizen went over for his second after 16 minutes.

The turning point for Bath was a bittersweet one as full-back Tom de Glanville was injured in a high tackle from Joe Marler, who was shown a yellow card by referee Luke Pearce. During the 10 minutes with Quins a man down, the visitors were able to benefit, scoring two tries from set pieces from England flanker Underhill and prop Stuart.

De Glanville limped off with a suspected knee injury and was replaced by Cipriani, with Bailey moving to full-back. At half-time Bath were 17-12 up after some strong defending to stop Quins from taking the psychological advantage into the second half.

Harlequins senior coach Tabai Matson did not shy away from the Marler incident and the implications of a possible citing. He said: “I think anytime someone flips over and lands on his shoulder, you should look at that but there were a lot of mitigating factors and I know I am saying that with a Quins lens on when I say that - I felt the young fella (De Glanville) jumped a little bit and Joe went low.

“Hopefully nothing further comes of that but we want to make sure the game is safe. If it gets scrutinised, it gets scrutinised, that is part of the game.”

However, the second half saw Harlequins turn things up a gear - a terrific Alex Dombrandt offload from the back of the scrum led to Marcus Smith scooting over before converting his own try - two more England players ready to impress Eddie Jones before the autumn internationals.

Any hopes of Bath returning home with anything - even a losing bonus point were scuppered by a great run from Smith to send in Joe Marchant - who came into the England squad for Watson - to put the final nail in an albeit much improved Bath’s coffin.

Match details

Scoring: 5-0 Esterhuizen try, 7-0 Smith con; 7-3 Bailey pen; 12-3 Esterhuizen try, 12-8 Underhill try, 12-10 Bailey con; 12-15 Du Toit try, 12-17 Bailey con; 17-17 Smith try, 19-17 Smith con; 24-17 Marchant try, 26-17 Smith con; 31-17 Marchant try,

Harlequins: T Green, L Lynagh, J Marchant, A Esterhuizen (H Jones 76), C Murley (L Northmore 56), M Smith, D Care (S Steele 66); J Marler (S Garcia Botta 76), J Walker (S Riley 26), W Collier (S Kerrod 56), M Symons (H Tizard 55), D Lamb, J Chisholm (L Wallace 56), t Lawday (S Garcia Botta 26-36), A Dombrandt (capt).

Yellow card: Joe Marler (25 minutes)

Bath: T De Glanville (D Cipriani 32) , S Rokoduguni, M Clarke, M Ojomoh, R McConnochie (G Hamer-Webb 71), O Bailey, J Simpson (O Fox 47); B Obano (L Boyce 40), J Du Toit (T Dunn 59), W Stuart (D Rae 67), J McNally (M Williams 71), C Ewels (capt), T Ellis, S Underhill, J Coetzee (de Carpentier 5).

Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU).

Attendance: 14,115