Dowson praises ‘exceptional’ England hopeful after frustrating champions

Bristol boss Pat Lam hailed Louis Rees-Zammit’s “lethal” quality after he inspired the Bears’ 41-26 victory over Gallagher Prem champions Northampton at Ashton Gate.

The Wales wing followed up his two tries against opening Prem opponents Sale Sharks with another double as Bristol triumphed in bonus-point fashion.

“He is sharp, you know, and he loves finishing,” Lam said.

“We know that if we can give him time and space, he is lethal. He is back on the wing (Rees-Zammit made appearances at full-back for club and country last season), and most importantly that is where he wants to be.”

Bristol conceded 94 points at Northampton in May, and Lam added: “I think at the end of the crazy day when we lost that game we were able to turn it around the following week against Bath and show that it wasn’t us.

“I watched that (Northampton) game five times and although it hurt, I watched it and built the whole pre-season around that in a sense.”

Rees-Zammit also shone in defence as Bristol largely nullified Northampton’s free-flowing game, while Harry Randall, Gabriel Oghre and Tom Jordan added further Bristol tries, and there was also a penalty try, with James Williams kicking three conversions and a penalty.

Northampton trailed by just a point at half time and were in contention throughout but they ultimately came up short despite scores from George Hendy (2) Alex Mitchell and Josh Kemeny, while Fin Smith booted three conversions, and finished with 13 players following yellow cards for Tommy Freeman and Ion Neculai.

There was also good news for Bristol when their England centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg was able to watch the second half from the touchline after being carried off following a midfield collision that left him requiring prolonged treatment.

Saints have not won in the Prem at Ashton Gate since 2021 and rugby director Phil Dowson said: “Frustration is the over-riding emotion.

“We just didn’t execute anything to the level like we can. That is credit to the Bears in lots of ways – we haven’t been under that much pressure so far this season – but it is something we need to look at in training.

“They were right in our faces and didn’t allow us to execute. There were loads of bright spots and we played some decent rugby at times, just not enough. And there was some dumb stuff in there which we need to eradicate.

“There were probably 200 breakdowns and they did a very good job. Fitz Harding (Bristol captain) was exceptional, and they won that battle.”