A live audience, suddenly, is the most precious gift in sport. It would be pushing it to describe the Stoop as a throbbing cauldron awash with passion, but how good it was to see club rugby finally removed from its deserted echo chamber. The much-missed buzz and banter of a Saturday afternoon are back, hopefully to stay. Even hearing The Mighty Quin being lustily sung by well-upholstered men in striped blazers felt warmly nostalgic, at least for the first couple of renditions. What mattered, as much as Bath’s well-deserved victory, was the return of real, live spectators in the stands, though only 2,700 paying customers were permitted to be present on a lovely sunny day. Neutral or otherwise, it felt strangely emotional simply to watch a couple of Quins fans ambling down the pavement beside the A316 in their multicoloured replica jerseys. Normal people, back out in the fresh air, heading to the game. Little rituals once taken for granted, now cherished. The sparsely dotted figures around the stadium resembled a throwback to the amateur era when Quins might open their season in early September in front of a few diehards with a gentle loosener against Rosslyn Park or Blackheath. The only crucial temperature reading back then related to the amount of ice in the gin and tonics, the only mask the one worn by the harlequin jester on the club badge. To the players it must have been comparable to stumbling across an oasis after weeks wandering through an empty desert. Quins could have responded better but Bath, recovering well from a dreadful start that left them 13-6 down after 18 minutes, were good value for their bonus-point win. Joe Marchant’s early well-taken score was certainly a mirage. Two tries from the in-form Ruaridh McConnochie and 21 points from the boot of the excellent Rhys Priestland allowed Bath to pull well clear, to the delight of the visiting management whose side found a way to lose an eminently winnable match at home to Wasps last Monday. Here they looked far sharper with ball in hand. McConnochie’s first try was a cracker, the winger stretching over for a brilliant one-handed touchdown in the left corner, and they had a second inside five minutes courtesy of a short-range rumble finished by Elliott Stooke. The half-time score of 13-23 was not the stuff of Quins dreams and things were not destined to improve. Within three minutes of the restart – even the corner flags were disinfected during the interval – Cameron Redpath slipped a beautiful one-handed offload out of a tackle to put McConnochie away again and, with Eddie Jones looking on, he former England Sevens flyer once again left the cover trailing. The premature loss of Anthony Watson, who came off at half-time, was offset by another promising display from Tom de Glanville, leaving Quins to try to conjure some kind of concerted response. Mike Brown had another good game at full-back but the problems were further forward, where Bath’s heavy-duty pack were proving mighty hard to shift. Even when the hosts resorted to the unconventional – Marchant threw one quick lineout 40 metres, like an NFL quarterback – nothing much came of it. Two more Priestland penalties after 57 minutes stretched the gap between the teams still further and, despite consolation tries from the replacements Martín Landajo and James Lang and two late Bath yellow cards, it was clear that the yellow-clad visitors would be securing their first Premiership home-and-away double over Quins since 2014-15. A breakaway try for the former Quin Lewis Boyce deepened the thoughtful hush around the ground, with Quins suddenly looking over their shoulders in the race to finish in the top eight and qualify for next season’s European Champions Cup. Bang goes the theory, on this evidence at least, that home advantage is enhanced by the presence of partisan supporters. Either way, every other club in the country will be praying for the day their own exiled brethren can flock back in through the gates. In that respect, at least, Quins could be grateful for small mercies.