Barkley: Emotional farewell at The Rec

The former England fly-half got his wish, kicking 16 points as Bath saw off Sale Sharks 31-10 to keep them stuck at the Premiership basement following five successive defeats.

Barkley, 30, will head to Paris next week for a new chapter in his playing career with French Top 14 club Racing Metro.

But he left the Recreation Ground with goodwill messages ringing in his ears.

"I am just happy having won four points today," he said.

"The last thing I wanted today was an unhappy changing room after losing three games on the bounce. That was my main priority.

"Walking across the pitch after the game, the realisation that I won't be doing it again in a Bath jersey is quite sad. But I've had a fantastic time here, and it is time to move on to a new challenge.

"I will leave this place with a heavy heart, but also with a happy one.

"I have watched the Top 14 quite a bit. It is a league that I have admired, and I am looking forward to going there."

Asked whether he felt unfulfilled with a 23-cap England cap career, Barkley added: "The bottom line is that I did not play well enough when I had the opportunity.

"Consistency at international level is key, especially in a playmaking role, and I didn't have that.

"But I enjoyed my time playing for England, and I will look back with far more happy memories than regrets."

Bath bounced back following successive losses to Northampton and London Irish, winning comfortably courtesy of Barkley's haul, a David Wilson try, Ben Skirving touchdown and a penalty try.

But head coach Gary Gold was disappointed that Bath did not pull away after building a 19-3 lead after 52 minutes.

"I am very satisfied with the performance from a defensive perspective, but we need to learn to kill off teams. We let them back into the game at 19-10," Gold said.

"We can still work really hard on our attack. We have an exciting back-three, and we need to get them into the game more often.

"Immediately, the message after the game today was that on Monday we focus on Kingsholm and Gloucester next weekend. It is not going to get any easier.

"At 19-3 up, we need to go for the jugular and put teams to bed."

Sale delivered a second-half Johnny Leota try converted by Nick Macleod, who slotted an early penalty, but the Sharks remain in 12th and last place with just one point.

They dispensed with the services of their forwards coach Steve Scott last weekend two days after a home defeat against newly-promoted London Welsh, and Sharks chief executive Steve Diamond has temporarily taken on that role in support of rugby director Bryan Redpath.

But although Sale competed aggressively at the breakdown - and they looked a far more fluent attacking force after Danny Cipriani appeared as a second-half substitute - there was nothing to seriously suggest an immediate upturn in fortunes.

The current campaign already represents their worst start to a Premiership season during its 15-year existence, but life is not about too get any easier, with Leicester awaiting them next Friday night.

Redpath said: "At 19-10 down we had a couple of opportunities that we didn't take, but the scoreline was not a true reflection today.

"It was more encouraging, but we were on the wrong end of some tough decisions.

"We have just got to keep beating away at the drum and work hard to get a better performance. The players' attitude today was great."