Bristol stretch Championship lead with victory at Doncaster
LEADERS and promotion favourites Bristol completed the first half of their Championship campaign with their 11th consecutive victory and another maximum five points.
But Doncaster put on a highly competitive effort at Castle Park to ensure Bristol knew they’d fought the hardest of battles.
Two tries by hooker Jason Harris-Wright on 19 and 61 minutes and outstanding scores by Welsh scrum-half Rhodri Williams and Samoan winger Alapati Leiua managed to break through a a solid Doncaster defence.
Bristol’s win also owed much to the confident and accurate goal-kicking of Irish fly-half Ian Madigan, who finished with 18 points.
The ex-Bordeaux and Leinster player’s four penalties punished Doncaster’s mistakes and also, importantly, prevented them making progress which their efforts deserved as they attacked positively in Bristol’s 22.
The club which have invested so much to guarantee a return to the Premiership were below their best in the first half as handling errors reprieved Doncaster, but after the interval, Bristol’s pace increased sharply to secure three decisive tries.
Bristol coach Pat Lam said: “We were not at our best and earlier in the season we would have lost this match. I am satisfied to get five points because few teams leave Doncaster with that. They were very competitive.
“Promotion and Championship titles are not won in the first half of the season. There are plenty of games left, but at this stage I’m happy with the hard work on and off the field by the boys. We have several really good individuals but the important thing is that they are fitting in with the team as a whole.”
The fact that Bristol were below par until half time, and at times during the second half, reflected well on Doncaster who are experiencing a tough time with no Championship win since the end of September.
Their pack tore into Bristol’s and gained sufficient possession to score tries on 14 and 68 minutes by lock Matt Challinor and winger Curtis Wilson who was later sin-binned for a high tackle, an offence which
meant that Doncaster were undermanned when Bristol scored their fourth try.
At one stage, Doncaster were only lagging by 16-13 following a second penalty from fly-half Simon Humberstone in the 47th minute.
However, while Doncaster continued to hustle, Bristol increased their pace and created three try scoring opportunities which stretched the lead to 20 points late in the second half.
Although they have now lost five and drawn one of their last six Championship games, Doncaster’s display against the league’s best team gives director of rugby Clive Griffiths some confidence for the remaining 11 league matches.
He said: “I am not happy with the result but this was a much-improved performance, certainly compared with last week at Ealing.
“But we gave away far too many penalties and we had enough ball and positions to score four tries. I think we should have been ahead at half time, but the penalties against us stopped our progress.
“The other thing we need to work hard on is our lineout.”