Bristol Bears heavily maul Gloucester to boost PREM play-off hopes

Bristol Bears kept themselves in Gallagher Prem play-off contention after sweeping aside west country rivals Gloucester 53-12 at Ashton Gate.

Pat Lam’s team moved two points behind fourth-placed Exeter as they bounced back from three successive defeats across the Prem and Champions Cup.

Gloucester saw three players receive yellow cards during the first half and Bristol ruthlessly punished them with a try double from wing Kalaveti Ravouvou, while Kieran Marmion and Fitz Harding also crossed, in addition to a penalty try.

Fly-half Tom Jordan then touched down early in the second period, along with hooker Gabriel Oghre. Centre James Williams kicked five conversions and Jordan landed two late penalties.

Gloucester managed scores for full-back George Barton and flanker Deian Gwynne, plus a Barton conversion, but they were a distant second-best, slumping to an 11th Prem defeat of the season in 13 starts as Bristol claimed a record victory in the fixture.

Fixture

Gallagher Premiership

Bristol

53 - 12

Full-time

Gloucester

All Stats and Data

Bristol, though, maintained hopes of a top-four finish, sparring for one of those spots alongside Exeter, Northampton, Bath and Leicester.

Gloucester made a nightmare start in front of their new technical director – former Northampton boss Chris Boyd – conceding a try and seeing hooker Seb Blake yellow-carded inside five minutes.

Bristol went through 20 phases of play almost from kick-off and it ended when Marmion crossed from close range – Williams added the conversion – before Blake departed following head on head contact with Bears’ England prop Ellis Genge.

Gloucester cut the deficit when Jordan’s defensive clearance was charged down by skipper Seb Atkinson and his team-mate Barton touched down, only for Bristol to strike from their next attack as Ravouvou finished off a sweeping move.

Ravouvou was at it again just three minutes later, showcasing his power to breach Gloucester’s defence, and Williams’ conversion opened up a 14-point lead still inside the opening quarter.

Blake failed a head injury assessment he undertook while off the field after his sin-binning, being replaced by Jack Innard and Bristol extended their lead in bonus-point fashion eight minutes before half time.

Fly-half Charlie Atkinson received a yellow card for killing possession deep inside Gloucester’s 22 and before the visitors could regroup Harding claimed his team’s fourth try.

The interval could not come quickly enough for Gloucester, yet there was still time for a Bristol penalty try after wing Josiah Edwards-Giraud’s deliberate knock-on meant another yellow card, although Gwynne then scored and Barton converted, making it 33-12 at the break.

There was a brief skirmish between players from both sides as the teams went off, which particularly underlined Gloucester’s sense of frustration, but normal service was quickly resumed through a breakaway Jordan try that Williams converted.

Gloucester’s night continued to deteriorate when Oghre dived over and inched Bristol closer to a half-century, but the home side then incurred referee Ian Tempest’s wrath as replacement George Taylor was sin-binned before two Jordan penalties completed the scoring.