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Kalaveti Ravouvou double sees Bristol topple Northampton

By PA
Harry Thacker of Bristol Bears. Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Bristol regained top spot in the Gallagher Premiership as centre Kalaveti Ravouvou scored two tries to underpin a 31-23 victory over champions Northampton at Ashton Gate.

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The west country club might not have been at their free-flowing best but they still had enough in the tank to triumph.

A fourth win from six league starts was secured after Bristol trailed by 15 points midway through the first half.

Northampton, despite being without five players on England squad duty ahead of the Autumn Nations Series, made life difficult and were rewarded with tries for full-back George Hendy, flanker Josh Kemeny and wing James Ramm, while debutant fly-half George Makepeace-Cubitt kicked two penalties and a conversion.

Bristol, though, secured a bonus-point success as Fiji international Ravouvou led the way on his return from injury.

His double kept Bristol on course for maximum points, and there were also touchdowns for wing Gabriel Ibitoye and lock Joe Batley.

Fly-half AJ MacGinty kicked all four conversions and landed a penalty as Bristol finished a first block of six Premiership games before the autumn Tests in fine shape.

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Bristol, who were minus England pair Harry Randall and Ellis Genge, struggled to find their trademark fluency initially, and Makepeace-Cubitt kicked Saints ahead through a 14th-minute penalty.

Flanker Steven Luatua went close to a Bristol try from the restart, but Saints responded impressively and a slick attack ended with Hendy finishing superbly, before Makepeace-Cubitt’s conversion made it 10-0.

Bristol, hampered by uncharacteristic errors, fell further behind just two minutes later following a powerful surge from flanker Tom Pearson, who sent an unmarked Kemeny over to leave the home side in considerable strife.

The hosts needed a response as Northampton continued to threaten, and it arrived 10 minutes before half-time after impressive build-up play created an overlap that Ibitoye easily exploited.

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MacGinty converted from the touchline, and Bristol were at it again just three minutes later, cutting open Northampton’s defence as Ravouvou sprinted through a huge gap. MacGinty’s conversion made it 15-14.

Northampton then had the final say during an entertaining first 40 minutes when Makepeace-Cubitt kicked a penalty that secured a four-point interval advantage.

Points Flow Chart

Bristol win +8
Time in lead
27
Mins in lead
41
33%
% Of Game In Lead
50%
57%
Possession Last 10 min
43%
2
Points Last 10 min
5

Both sides had scoring chances in the third quarter but Bristol had a prominent attacking force in Luatua, whose strong running built foundations for a third try.

The Northampton defence struggled to hold him, and Ravouvou applied a close-range finish for his second touchdown, with MacGinty’s conversion making it 21-18.

The fly-half kicked a penalty 13 minutes from time that gave Bristol a small degree of breathing space, and there was no way back for Saints when a high-class attack that heavily involved Ibitoye was rounded off by Batley.

Northampton went in pursuit of a losing bonus point as the clock ticked down – one that their overall performance deserved – yet it eluded them in agonising fashion.

Ramm touched down for Saints’ third try in the final minute, but Makepeace-Cubitt’s touchline conversion attempt hit the post, meaning an eight-point margin of defeat and no bonus.

Louis Rees-Zammit joins Jim Hamilton for the latest episode of Walk the Talk to discuss his move to the NFL. Watch now on RugbyPass TV

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J
JW 7 minutes ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Ireland | Autumn Nations Series

Nah, if you see some picture of a way to blame Dmac rather than the whole team who were slacking and just getting beat by an Argentina team that was up for it then you've got unconscious bias I'm afraid.


The coaching staff (and the team as they had done throughout Fosters era) did just not get them in the right frame of mind. They slackened off after two intense English tests and were slow to build back up into test match intensity after the San Diego run around. You can view that Wellington loss as akin to what went on in Chicago in 2016, it was just delayed a couple of weeks in this instance.


Good reminder of what game management is, unfortunately it doesn't cover all the bases and is missing pivotal parts of lethality.


I think you're misunderstanding the argument, this is about Dmac, not the team, and about his idea of game management, not his application. In none of the games this year, including this weekends one, has he done relentless execution of the basics. His conservative game was neither shrewd or accurate.


The difference here is perspective. You see a win and you want to apply credit, just as you saw a lose and want to apply blame. Dmac's game management in both circumstances was very similar, just in this game I felt that pressure to concentrate on it caused him a few more errors in that application for no real gain in that area, and a much more ineffective attack stop the team from making it a very comfortable game.


The other difference is you a way overplaying Irelands performance imo. They were pathetic. Even in the start of the 2nd when they were trying to get points with the card it felt comfortable they weren't going to have what it takes even if they fixed their error rate. That was the first Bled test where Dmac nearly singlehandedly took an unbeatable 50 lead, a great example of good game management that again just didn't come off. Those tests were not 12 tests ago. Twelve tests ago he was running England around like he'd been in the jersey his whole career. We didn't break any record, the streak is a figment of Irelands imagination to desperately show how good they are to the world. You've been caught hook line and sinker in all these topics sadly.

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