Bristol Bears rout Newcastle with cricket score at Ashton Gate
Bristol reeled off a fifth successive Gallagher Premiership victory as they continued their play-off push by demolishing Newcastle 85-14 at Ashton Gate.
Pat Lam’s team scored more than 50 points for the third home game in a row, posting a club-record Premiership win, and they did not disappoint Newcastle’s consultant rugby director Steve Diamond, who had compared their all-action style to the Harlem Globetrotters.
Newcastle’s 15th league defeat of the season was confirmed with indecent haste as Bristol scored their bonus-point try after just 15 minutes – the fastest Premiership points maximum for 20 years.
They claimed seven first-half touchdowns – Siva Naulago, James Dun, Max Malins, Magnus Bradbury, James Williams, Ellis Genge and Benhard Janse van Rensburg all scored – with fly-half AJ MacGinty adding six conversions.
Further tries followed in the second period for Harry Randall, Kieran Marmion, Jake Heenan, Virimi Vakatawa (2) and Van Rensburg’s second – Williams kicked three conversions and Van Rensburg one – while Newcastle posted scores from wing Adam Radwan and fly-half Brett Connon, who also added two conversions.
Bristol’s Premiership run-in is not straightforward – Leicester away, Saracens at home and Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop – but they are a team high on confidence and could take some stopping in terms of clinching a top-four place.
It took Bristol just 83 seconds to open their account, and they did it in style through a long-range move started by Naulago, who linked impressively with scrum-half Harry Randall before collecting his scoring pass.
MacGinty converted, and alarm bells were ringing even louder for Newcastle four minutes later when Bristol went through their forwards from a close-range line-out and Dun crashed over.
MacGinty’s conversion opened up a 14-point lead, and there was more to come with only nine minutes gone after prop Ellis Genge’s pass sent Malins through on a searing angle for another easy touchdown.
Newcastle were in all kinds of strife, but they then conjured a score from nowhere when the elusive Radwan gathered and finished impressively on a 40-metre dash to the line, with Connon converting.
A quickfire bonus-point try was inevitable and it duly arrived after Randall took a quick penalty before the supporting Bradbury touched down.
Newcastle secured pockets of possession that briefly helped stem the tide, but Bristol’s dominance was overwhelming and try number five came when Williams capitalised on weak defence and MacGinty kicked his fourth conversion.
The one-way traffic continued towards half-time as Genge helped himself to a solo score, then Van Rensburg touched down wide out, with MacGinty adding two more conversions for a 47-7 interval advantage.
Bristol rugby director Pat Lam made a raft changes just five minutes into the second period, such was his team’s control, with Genge, his fellow prop Kye Sinckler, MacGinty and flanker Steven Luatua among those going off.
Inevitably, there weas no let-up, with Randall sprinting clear to score Bristol’s eighth try – Williams converted – then replacement scrum-half Marmion crossed, with Williams’ extras taking the home team past 60 points.
Newcastle responded through an interception try for Connon, that he also converted, but Heenan then added Bristol’s 10th touchdown before Van Rensburg and Vakatawa’s late brace completed the rout.
Comments on RugbyPass
ABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
225 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
225 Go to commentsKok 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 comments