Bristol Bears heap more misery on winless South Africans
South Africa’s struggles in Europe continued as their reserve XV slumped to a 26-18 defeat at the hands of a fired-up Bristol in front of a sell-out crowd of 26,357 at Ashton Gate.
The first-choice Springboks have already lost internationals to Ireland and France and now their ‘A’ side followed up last week’s 28-14 defeat to Munster in Cork with another very poor display in the south-west of England.
In contrast, Gallagher Premiership strugglers Bristol will be buoyed by this morale-boosting result over a squad containing 12 full internationals in their match-day 23.
Joe Batley and Luke Morahan were at the forefront of the home side’s effort, with Bears’ tries coming from Gabriel Ibitoye and Yann Thomas. Callum Sheedy converted both and added four penalties.
Ntuthuko Mchunu and Sikhumbuzo Notshe touched down for the visitors, with Johan Goosen converting one and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicking two penalties.
One of those Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalties put the visitors ahead with less than three minutes gone and Bristol soon suffered another blow when captain Joe Joyce departed with a shoulder injury to be replaced by John Hawkins.
Bears took some heart from a sharp break from scrum-half Will Porter which enlivened a disjointed opening period. His dart was supported by Batley, which took the home side into the opposition 22 for the first time before Springbok lock Jason Jenkins was yellow carded for a high challenge on Fitz Harding.
Sheedy slotted over the resulting penalty but Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked his second to give his side a 6-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Another storming run from Batley created the game’s first try-scoring opportunity but excellent covering from the visitors prevented Sheedy and Ibitoye from forcing their way over in the left-hand corner.
However, Bears still picked up the next score with a penalty from Sheedy bringing the teams level at 6-6 before Jenkins was able to return from the sin-bin with no further damage done to the scoreboard.
After 31 minutes, Bristol took the lead for the first time when Jake Heenan and Morahan combined cleverly in limited space to create an opening for Ibitoye to race over.
Sheedy fired over an excellent touchline conversion to give his side a 13-6 interval lead, a fair reward for being the more enterprising side in the first half.
Seven minutes after the restart though, the South Africans reduced the arrears.
Probes from Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Elrigh Louw put the home defence on the back foot which allowed prop Mchunu to see a gap and rumble over.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed a routine conversion and Sheedy added salt to the wound as he succeeded with his third penalty before then securing a platform in the opposition 22 with a superb touch-finder.
From there, Bears capitalised when, following a succession of forward drives, Thomas forced his way over with Sheedy’s conversion giving the hosts a 12-point advantage going into the final quarter.
Sheedy added another penalty to seal victory and finish with a match-tally of 16 points before the South Africans had the final say with a late try from Notshe.
Comments on RugbyPass
Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to comments