Bath hang on for tense one-point victory over Bristol
Bath hung on to claim the spoils 20-19 against their near neighbours but Bristol almost pulled off a dramatic Gallagher Premiership victory.
Instead the Bears fell to a fourth successive Premiership defeat.
A 67th-minute Finn Russell penalty snatched the points for Bath after tries by Rich Lane and Max Malins hauled Bristol back into the match.
Bath had answered an early try by Magnus Bradbury with two tries in as many minutes by the outstanding Ollie Lawrence and skipper Ben Spencer.
Just hours before kick-off Bath bolstered their squad with the immediate signing of Italy’s World Cup hooker, New Zealand-born Hame Faiva, formerly with Benetton and Worcester and most recently with the Hurricanes.
Bristol were out of the blocks quickest, as number eight Bradbury finished off a succession of pick-and-drives at the home posts after five minutes, Callum Sheedy adding the conversion.
Russell replied with a simple penalty and it was soon the visitors’ turn to be stretched side-to-side before Lawrence brushed aside Piers O’Conor and Gabriel Oghre to register Bath’s first try.
Russell had no sooner converted than he was placing the ball on the tee again after Lawrence burst upfield from the restart and centre partner Cameron Redpath acted as linkman to send Spencer away to touch down at the corner flag.
The game continued in fast and furious fashion but Bath were guilty of as many spills as thrills and Virimi Vakatawa, although closely marshalled, was an obvious threat for the visitors.
On the half-hour mark the Fijian-born France international left home defenders floundering only to offload just short of the try-line to Bath flanker Miles Reid, who gratefully cleared downfield.
At the other end Redpath linked well with Lawrence but the chance went begging.
Another stunning Bristol counter-attack prompted by skipper Harry Randall should have earned a try but when the ball was swept left possession was lost on the Bath line.
Given the number of scoring opportunities, it was surprising that there were no further points on the board before half-time as Bath led 17-7.
Both sides adopted a rather cagier approach to the second half before Bristol scored two tries in four minutes.
First Lane fastened on to a kick-pass by Sheedy to score a try in the left corner and then replacement full-back Malins finished off a spectacular counter-attack inspired by Gabriel Ibitoye.
Sheedy was unable to convert either try but Russell obligingly missed a simple penalty at the other end to leave Bristol 17-19 ahead on the hour mark, although Sheedy was then wide with a kick at the other end.
Malins raised Bath hopes by knocking on in his 22 and Russell nudged his side into the lead from a penalty under the posts. Spencer charged down Randall’s box-kick but could not hold on to the slippery ball.
Sheedy had yet another opportunity from wide-out but his penalty attempt, although perfectly struck, dipped just under the bar.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments