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Callum Sheedy helps Bristol Bears squeeze past Sale Sharks

By Online Editors
Callum Sheedy. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Callum Sheedy scored 11 points as Bristol won a scrappy match against Sale 16-10 at Ashton Gate.

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Ioan Lloyd scored Bristol’s only try, which Sheedy converted after the outside-half had kicked three penalties, while Cameron Neild scored Sale’s try with AJ MacGinty adding a penalty and a conversion.

After a drab opening, Sale had the first chance for points but Rob Du Preez’s 40-metre penalty bounced back off a post.

Soon after, Du Preez was presented with a chance from a similar range but this time Sale opted to seek an attacking line-out only for the South African to kick the ball straight over the dead-ball line.

The first quarter was abysmal, devoid of any interest or entertainment, with Sheedy having Bristol’s only scoring opportunity – but his wide-angled penalty attempt sailed wide.

Continue reading below…

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Sheedy was then given an easier chance and this time he made no mistake to give his side the lead before Bristol put together the first sustained pressure of the match.

The hosts battered the Sale line but the opposition defence held firm so it was left to Sheedy, with a second penalty, to extend Bristol’s lead.

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With the drizzle arriving, the visitors continued with their aerial bombardment but the tactic got them nowhere as they persistently got on the wrong side of the referee, with Sheedy capitalising by knocking over a third penalty as Bristol held a 9-0 interval lead.

Bristol lock Dave Attwood fumbled the restart to give the visitors their first foray into the opposition 22 but they suffered a blow when their skipper Jono Ross departed with a leg injury.

Former Bristol player James Phillips replaced him, with Sale also bringing on front rowers Akker Van Der Merwe and Coenie Oosthuizen in an attempt to reverse their fortunes.

Bristol scrum-half Andy Uren was penalised for a high tackle to give the visitors another entry into the 22 but they lost another line-out to prevent them from building any pressure.

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However, they continued to have the better of the third quarter although there was never any danger of them threatening the try line.

They replaced their disappointing half-backs Will Cliff and Du Preez in favour of MacGinty and Embrose Papier and it paid immediate dividends when they produced a flowing three-quarter move which covered 70 metres.

From that platform, Harry Thacker’s high tackle was penalised for MacGinty to put Sale on the scoreboard with 18 minutes remaining.

Bristol lost lock Chris Vui to the sin bin for dragging down a line-out drive so the hosts had to play the last 10 minutes with 14 men, but Sale lacked the accuracy to make it count and Bristol broke to score when replacement Lloyd collected Harry Randall’s kick ahead to score.

Sale looked like coming away with nothing but replacement Neild crossed with two minutes remaining to secure a bonus point.

– Press Association

In other news:

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Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

33 Go to comments
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