Louis Rees-Zammit helps shatter Newcastle's hopes of first PREM win

Bristol overcame a 10-point deficit and a late red card for lock Joe Batley to seal a 36-27 win over a spirited Newcastle at Ashton Gate.

The Red Bulls had threatened to cause an upset when they led 27-17 early in the second half, but the introduction of Ellis Genge among others turned the game the hosts’ way.

Bristol scored six tries, two from Louis Rees-Zammit with Matias Moroni, Gabriel Oghre, Noah Heward and Kaveti Ravouvou also on the score sheet. Tom Jordan added two conversions and James Williams one.

Newcastle secured their first league point of the season with four tries of their own. Oli Spencer scored two of them, Murray McCallum and Ollie Leatherbarrow the others, with Brett Connon kicking a penalty and two conversions.

Harry Randall led out Bristol for his 150th competitive appearance for the club but his side were soon behind when McCallum forced his way over from close range to reward a period of pressure.

The Red Bulls continued to dominate the opening exchanges and it came as no surprise when they scored a second try with a flying finish from Spencer, who avoided a challenge from Ravouvou to put the visitors 10-0 up.

Bristol rose from their slumbers and with their first real attack, they created space for Rees-Zammit to sail through a huge gap and score. Almost immediately, Moroni then repeated the dose by evading Connon’s weak tackle on a 30-metre run to the line.

Careless handling from the Bears then gave their opponents an attacking platform and Newcastle made it count with a try from Leatherbarrow, with Connon’s first successful conversion giving the visitors a deserved 17-12 interval lead.

Jordan put the restart straight out of play and Newcastle capitalised with a straightforward penalty from Connon to extend their lead.

That was the signal for Bristol to make changes, with Genge, Oghre and former Newcastle player Pedro Rubiolo all introduced, and it paid immediate dividends when Oghre’s pass sent Heward racing over.

The Red Bulls responded immediately when a break from Sammy Arnold was the catalyst for Spencer’s second try and their first point of the season.

The second half was livelier as Bristol soon scored their bonus point when a powerful run from Genge set up an overlap try for Ravouvou.

Inspired by the presence of Genge, Bristol scored two more tries in quick succession with Rees-Zammit strolling over before Oghre finished off a driving line-out.

Batley was then red-carded for a head-on-head tackle before Ravouvou was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on as Bristol’s 13 just kept their line intact.