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High drama at Sandy Park as Bristol pull off remarkable fight back
Bristol completed a remarkable recovery by scoring a last-minute try through Dan Thomas to beat Exeter 20-17 and move top of the Gallagher Premiership.
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The visitors had trailed 17-0 at the break but rallied to stun the Chiefs at Sandy Park and make it three wins from four at the start of the season.
With time up, Bristol won a penalty which Callum Sheedy kicked to the corner and from there the Bears forwards built up a head of steam to crash over the line.
The countless replays appeared inconclusive but the try was awarded and, after Sheedy slotted over the conversion, Bristol were able to celebrate a superb comeback victory which sends them top.
Sam Simmonds and Nic White scored Exeter’s first-half tries with Joe Simmonds converting both and adding a penalty.
Piers O’Conor was Bristol’s other tryscorer with Sheedy finishing with two penalties and two conversions as the visitors scored 20 unanswered points after the interval.
The opening 15 minutes were a poor advertisement for Premiership Rugby as both sides struggled to bring any continuity to their game.
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Incredible drama at Sandy Park! ?
With time in the red, an almighty HEAVE from @BristolBears gets them over the line to win it!
Pat Lam's men are top of the league! What a comeback from 17-0 down! ? pic.twitter.com/Iyh0Ml10XR
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 10, 2019
Basic handling errors abounded with possession being swapped from side to side, which belied the excellent playing conditions.
Eventually Chiefs managed to string a few passes together and took the lead through a 14th-minute try from Sam Simmonds.
"He's rubbing shoulders because… That's a thing he does!"
?? this interview.
Nathan Hughes and Steven Luatua reflect on a huge @BristolBears win ? pic.twitter.com/KPKCuQcceP
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 10, 2019
Henry Slade, on his first game back from England World Cup duties, skilfully evaded a couple of defenders and Sam Simmonds was on hand to drive over from close range for a try that his brother Joe converted.
That breakthrough was the catalyst that Exeter needed as they became increasingly dominant and, following some accurate handling, they picked up a second try.
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A splendid off-load from Slade created space for Stuart Hogg before the full-back sent Tom O’Flaherty racing down the right flank. When the wing was hauled down, White saw a gap to dart over.
“We accept the hate we are going to get, but we think it is misplaced and misguided,” said the Saracens DoR.https://t.co/uFARLmsL6g
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2019
Joe Simmonds converted again before adding a simple penalty for Exeter to lead 17-0 at the interval.
At that stage, it looked an uphill task for Bristol to reverse their fortunes as apart from a couple of lively runs from wing Luke Morahan, they hardly struck a blow in a one-sided first half.
Four minutes after the restart, they received some encouragement when Sheedy kicked a wide-angled penalty but normal service was immediately resumed as Chiefs pinned their opponents in their own 22.
The hosts appeared to have extended their lead when Alex Cuthbert forced his way over only for the TMO replays to show the wing had put a foot in touch just before grounding the ball.
Aki is returning to the contracting table emboldened by his much-enhanced CV and feeling very much entitled to a new IRFU funded central contract. Yet in Munster money is being readied for Bok superstars
– writes @heagneyl ???https://t.co/MsaN8jO8Ut
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 10, 2019
England squad members Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell were brought on as Exeter sought to increase their firepower, but it was Bristol who scored next when Sheedy kicked his second penalty after Hogg was penalised for not releasing.
Sheedy’s penalties were the only scores of a dull third quarter as the game continued to struggle for entertainment but, with 17 minutes remaining, White was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on and Bristol took full advantage when Morahan’s speed created a try for O’Conor.
Sheedy’s conversion brought Bristol to within four points before the late drama saw replacement flanker Thomas touch down to earn the visitors a scarcely believable victory.
Comments on RugbyPass
Unsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
3 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
3 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
7 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
7 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
4 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
4 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
7 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
7 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to commentsDom kant
200 Go to commentsBen is a little incel desperately trying to stir the pot and stay relevant. We used to get mad at his articles. Now we just feel sorry for him
200 Go to comments