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Bristol ended their Heineken Champions Cup pool phase campaign with a 52-21 bonus-point victory over the Scarlets in Llanelli. Pat Lam’s team had already qualified for the tournament’s round of 16 in April, and a rousing finale that saw them score three tries in six minutes left Scarlets shell shocked.
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The Bears moved third in Pool B, although they will be overhauled by Munster if the Irish side defeat Wasps on Sunday and claim a bonus point. Centres Semi Radradra and Ioan Lloyd scored early Bristol tries, yet it was not until the final quarter that they cut loose.
A penalty try was followed by a rapid scoring burst with Harry Thacker, Piers O’Conor and Ratu Naulago all touching down before Radrarda scored again. Fly-half Callum Sheedy also claimed a try and added five conversions. It all added up to a spectacular blitz of 31 points after the home side had levelled things up at 21-21.
The Scarlets had their moments through tries from hooker Ryan Elias and full-back Johnny McNicholl, with Rhys Patchell booting three penalties and a conversion, but their European Cup campaign is over for another season. The Welsh region showed a number of changes following a comprehensive defeat against Bordeaux-Begles last time out.
Patchell and Dane Blacker forged a new half-back pairing, wing Ryan Conbeer replaced Steff Evans, flanker Shaun Evans made his European debut and Carwyn Tuipulotu started at number eight. Bristol had a quartet of switches following their win over Stade Francais, including a first start since May last year for hooker Bryan Byrne, with Charles Piutau returning at full-back and Lloyd moving from wing to centre.
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— Bristol Bears ? (@BristolBears) January 22, 2022
The Scarlets played just their third game since late October following players quarantining in South Africa – where they had travelled to play two United Rugby Championship games – and on their return home, before seeing games postponed either side of Christmas. They made a strong start, taking a seventh-minute lead through Patchell’s angled penalty, only to be ripped open in midfield by Lloyd’s brilliant break.
He did not require a second invitation to attack Scarlets’ defensive line and he caused sufficient damage to send an unmarked Radradra over for a try that Sheedy converted. Lloyd, who missed out on a place in Wales’ Six Nations squad, was at it again six minutes later, this time scoring himself after collecting flanker Chris Vui’s exquisite offload, and Sheedy’s conversion opened up an 11-point advantage.
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Any thoughts of Bristol being in cruise control were soon dismissed, however, as Scarlets hit back through an Elias try that Patchell converted before a sweeping move that heavily featured skipper Jonathan Davies almost resulted in another score.
Patchell’s second successful penalty reduced the arrears to 14-13 before Lloyd’s thrilling contribution came to an early end when he was forced off injured and O’Conor replaced him. Bristol came under sustained pressure before the break, but they managed to prevent the Scarlets from making further in-roads and maintained a one-point lead.
Patchell completed a penalty hat-trick just three minutes into the second period, but Bristol wiped out the deficit when scrum-half Harry Randall took a quick penalty. Prop Kyle Sinckler then barged over the line, but replays showed he had been held up by Scarlets flanker Sione Kalamafoni, and the home side remained ahead.
Bristol, though, were soon back in front and the Scarlets temporarily down to 14 men when referee Mathieu Raynal awarded them a penalty try after Elias appeared to knock the ball out of Randall’s grasp from close range.
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Elias was yellow-carded as a result, yet the Scarlets responded brilliantly as Conbeer ran strongly into Bristol’s half before sending McNicholl over for a high-class score that made it 21-21 entering the final quarter.
Bristol went back in front just four minutes later when Thacker surged clear to touch down, and Sheedy’s conversion put them seven points clear before a dazzling finish left the Scarlets chasing shadows.
Comments on RugbyPass
Kok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
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