Ruthless Bristol enjoy a 9-try cup romp against local rivals
Nathan Russell and John Evely report on Bristol’s Premiership Rugby Cup win against Bath
BRISTOL Bears swept aside Bath in their Premiership Rugby Cup clash at Ashton Gate on Friday night, in a ruthless attacking display which left the visitors’ defence struggling to keep up.
The hosts ran nine tries past Bath, scoring the most points over their derby rivals in the 250th meeting between the clubs.
Bath scored three tries of their own, but it simply was not enough to overcome their lacklustre firsthalf defensive performance.
As Bath try scorer and scrum half Joe Simpson aptly put it after the match: “Everything after going 40-0 down is a consolation.’’
Bristol were ruthless in their demolition of Bath’s limp defence in the opening half, with the visitors offering little to no resistance of any form. Bath were cut to shreds by playmakers Piers O’Conor and Tiff Eden, and Bristol’s counterattacking abilities from turnover ball, of which there was plenty with Dan Thomas putting his hand up for a first-team return.
O’Conor’s quick pass put in outstanding loan signing Rich Lane from short range to open the score, before Bristol doubled their lead with a silky move that started with a Tiff Eden offload on the 22, and ended all the way on the opposing line with O’Conor’s inside pass putting in the supporting Jack Bates.
The hosts then asserted their physical dominance over the Bath pack as the forwards mauled over to allow Bryan Byrne to touch it down.
Lane’s interception of a careless Max Ojomoh pass saw the full-back go clear, and while Gabe HamerWebb’s rapid trackback to floor the streaking 28-year-old was mightily impressive, it proved futile as an
offload to Niyi Adeolokun saw the wing go over.
The Irishman added another minutes later as a mammoth overlap was exposed in the wide channel, with a beautiful looping Eden pass putting him in uncontested.
The Bears again showcased their dominance of the Bath pack by heaving over from about 15 metres out, as Dave Attwood got the ball down.
After being run ragged for 40 minutes, the visitors at last got something to cheer about when first-team debutant Mackenzie Graham caught the hosts defensive line napping to storm over without challenge just before the half-time whistle was blown.
Bath used their momentum to continue the onslaught once the teams had returned to the field for the second 40, as Tom Prydie put Joe Simpson into space and the electric scrum-half darted down the line to score in the corner.
Prydie then touched down, as a flowing pass from first-time captain Orlando Bailey found him out wide to score.
Bristol responded with confident attacking, calmly making their way up the field before replacement George Kloska’s pick, drive and reach saw the ball touch the white line to extend their lead.
Mitch Eadie scored next for the hosts, shoving aside George Worboys with ease to charge over for a five-pointer after a 30-yard carry down the touchline thanks to a defence-splitting pass from Eden. O’Conor grabbed the final try of the game, as he and flanker Thomas beautifully rearranged an attacking formation in Bristol’s own 22 to have a richly deserved clear run in from their half.
Despite some pressure in attack from the visitors, Pat Lam’s side saw out the game with ease as they put themselves in contention to reach the semi-finals with a game to come at home against Gloucester later this month.
For Bath, it undeniably gave their pride a knock, as defensively they just were nowhere near competitive, which was surprising as the teams looked relatively balanced on paper before kick-off.
The victors will now look ahead to a clash with Saracens at the StoneX next Saturday in the Gallagher Premiership, while Bath will be visited by Sale Sharks at the Recreation Ground.
Bristol: Rich Lane (Jac Lloyd, 66); Niyi Adeolokun, Jack Bates, Piers O’Conor, Matthew Jones (Harry Rowson, 57); Tiff Eden, Theo Strang; Ashley Challenger (Tom Sims, 47), Bryan Byrne (Will Capon, 48), Jake Armstrong (George Kloska, 40), Dave Attwood (James Dun, 47), Ed Holmes (Macennzie Duncan, 62), John Hawkins (George Taylor, 70), Dan Thomas, Mitch Eadie.
Bath: Darren Atkins; Tom Prydie, Jordan Venter, Max Ojomoh, Gabriel Hamer-Webb (Will Butt, 39); Orlando Bailey (George Worboys, 62), Joe Simpson (Ollie Fox,
50); Lewis Boyce (Arthur Cordwell, 17), Tom Doughty, Ma’afu Fia (Kieran Verden, 41), Will Spencer, Josh Dingley, Mackenzie Graham, Richard de Carpentier (Valery Morozov, 67), Nahum Merigan.