Savage Bears serve Brive a tasty bagle
PAT Lam acclaimed his Bears romp in France as “a big statement” in their desire to become one of Europe’s leading clubs.
The director of rugby says his team selection is becoming very tough due to the early season success which now sees Bristol sitting pretty at the top of their Challenge Cup pool as well as the Premiership table.
Not many English teams ‘bagle’ the French in their own back yard so Lam was right to be thrilled by the clean sheet, and the comprehensive and impressive bonus-point destruction of Top 14 opponents who had not lost for over a year at their Stade AmadeeDomenech fortress.
Lam, whose side have won both their opening Pool 4 games and resemble realistic challengers for the title, enthused: “It’s a big statement from the boys.
“We know the team we want to be. We want to be at the next level and this is another big step in that direction. Going anywhere and playing well and winning shouldn’t be an issue. You just have to back yourself.
“Brive hadn’t lost here in 18 months so to nil them is massive for us. It was a huge effort, fantastic performance and I’m really proud of them.
“Winning in France isn’t easy. You have to have a plan and you have to stay together. Now, they are making my team selection harder and harder each week!”
Bears took Brive apart with aggression, power, skill and flair in a one-sided opening half which saw them roar into a 24-0 led and never look back.
Toby Fricker, Harry Randall, Piers O’Conor, Will Capon and Ed Holmes grabbed the tries as the Bristol defence stood firm and defiant for the rest of the contest and Bears had Brive gasping for air by half-time, suffocating them with three finely worked tries.
It took six minutes to unlock the hosts’ defence as heavy pressure saw scrumhalf Randall move the ball from right to left and finally into the grateful hands of Fricker.
It still took plenty of finishing but the wing showed really strength and determination to knock two attempted tacklers back and reach over the line.
Fly-half Callum Sheedy converted and then sliced through the Brive defence to off-load to supporting half-back Randall for a fine second try. The disgruntled and increasingly frustrated home fans turned their whistles and complaints from referee Craig Evans onto their own players.
Brive were being outplayed in every department at that stage and had no answer when the Bristol forwards mauled them back over their own line. However, it was a back, centre Piers O’Connor who rose with ball in hand to claim the try.
Bears had a vice-like grip on the game. They relaxed it a little when Brive managed to finally get a foothold in the contest, pressing the English side back towards the end of the first half and deep into the second. But they were thwarted time and again in a game which became disjointed and scrappy with countless reset scrums and forced handling errors by a Bears defence hell bent on not conceding a point.
The game was put to bed when Brive lost replacement centre Sevenaia Galala to the sin-bin 15 minutes from time for an off the ball tackle and Bears went in for the kill with replacements Will Capon and Ed Holmes crossing for tries. Capon rose from a rolling maul for the bonus point and Holmes raced over as the Brive defence went awol.