Bristol put leaders Saints to the sword
BRISTOL started where they left off before English club rugby went into hibernation with this crushing seven-try demolition of league leaders Northampton.
The Bears scored eight tries and put 50 past Bath in their last game before the two-month lay-off and, with a resurgent Harry Randall setting the tone, are now attacking with an elan and panache that is hard to resist.
They were certainly too good for a Saints side that looked very rusty, albeit their England contingent were largely missing. They won’t be happy though, this was more like the flaky performances that marred last season.
Bristol made the quickest start with a charge down try by lock Joe Batley after promising England U20 scrum-half Archie McParland took too long over his kick.
McParland, making his first Premiership start, was greeted with a vicious little sleet storm in the opening minutes and confronted with a hard counter rucking Bristol pack that made life hell for the next 80 minutes.
He was lucky moments later when a pretty cynical looking tackle on Randall without the ball was treated leniently as Saints made a miserably poor start.
AJ MacGinty nudged over a short range penalty to increase the lead and then Bristol forged ahead with a spectacular break out try by Randall which got the Ashton Gate faithful roaring, albeit it came off a blatant forward pass from MacGinty.
Saints finally started to contest the issue in the second quarter and, although they only claimed one try, it was an absolute belter by Ollie Sleightholme. The muscular wing is usually noted for his blistering pace, but this time he also produced a blockbuster hand off, ran though Benhard Janse van Rensburg and then essentially continued as a one-man rolling maul as Bristol defenders tried unsuccessfully to stop his progress to the line. An eye popping score which Fin Smith converted.
After the break, with complete dominance in the tight, it was mostly one-way traffic with occasional attacking bursts from Saints who quickly realised that their only hope of garnering anything from the match was to chase a try bonus.
Bristol went to work in trademark fashion which heralded tries for Kyle Sinckler, James Dun, Max Malins, replacement hooker Fredi Davies and finally Gabriel Ibitoye. The bearded Malins looked fit and healthy which will encourage Bristol supporters after his injury problems while Davies is a name to conjure with. He has just finished a successful spell at Durham University where he is habitually one of the highest scorers in BUCS Rugby.
Northampton did hit back with couple of class scores, both as the result of finely judged kick passes from Fin Smith who didn’t have much to work with over the 80 minutes. He did however create a second try for Sleightholme on the left wing and then, after everything went pear-shaped with a pre-called move in midfield, he just stepped back two paces and found replacement Jack Garside with an exquisite angled kick.
None of this will take the edge off a bad Northampton defeat and they need to bounce back very quickly. They have a brutal run-in starting with Saracens at the Gardens on Friday night, Bristol meanwhile are away to Gloucester.