But the hosts hit back immediately as Nick Robinson's inside pass tricked the Bath line to send brother Jamie through a hole, the centre treating supporting back-row Molitika with a perfect offload that saw the Tongan lope under the posts.
The blunt approach has been underlined by Gatland's candid responses to questions about dropping wing Mark Jones, centre Sonny Parker and back-row replacement Alix Popham.
Louise Rickard, with 110 caps behind her at wing and full-back, is on the bench as second row cover while uncapped number eight Vici Owens and centre Adi Taviner make their first appearance on the bench.