Fearns looking to give Barkley perfect send off

Losing your last two Aviva Premiership games is reason enough to want to get back to winning ways, but Carl Fearns insists Bath Rugby have all the more reason to stop the rot as they bid to wave goodbye to Olly Barkley in style.

Barkley started this season like a man possessed, not missing a kick in Bath's opening two wins against Worcester Warriors and London Wasps while also landing three penalties in defeat to Northampton Saints.
But the Rec was shaken earlier this month with the announcement that the 30-year-old is set to join French Top 14 side Racing Metro as a 'medical joker', putting an end to a career that has seen Barkley make 161 top-flight appearances for Bath in two spells, a season with Gloucester Rugby sandwiched in the middle.

Flanker Fearns might have only arrived in the West Country last season, but having featured in all four of Bath's Aviva Premiership clashes this term the fly-half's importance to Gary Gold's side has not been lost on him.

And with Sale Sharks' trip to the Rec marking Barkley's final game before his departure to Paris, 23-year-old Fearns is adamant this is just the added incentive they needed to taste victory once again.

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