Lam praises Bristol’s character after Madigan sets up victory over Quins
If Bristol are to stay up this season, or even threaten the upper reaches of the Gallagher Premiership as their head coach, Pat Lam, believes they can, their home form is going to be crucial.
This win over an indisciplined, disappointing Harlequins team, delivered mainly thanks to an excellent kicking display from Ian Madigan in slippery conditions, made it two from two at Ashton Gate following away defeats by Saracens and Gloucester, and was just what the doctor ordered for the Premiership newbies.
It was not one for the purists. Nor did it match Bristol’s opening night victory over Bath for drama or intensity. The attendance was less than half the sellout 27,000 who showed up for that raucous season-opening win over their West Country rivals. But the 12,287 who did turn up still made themselves heard. And the Bears belatedly responded to their entreaties, putting in a performance that had Lam praising his team’s “character”.
Madigan was the architect, landing five penalties from five attempts as Bristol overcame a slow start in which they fell 10-0 behind to a Danny Care try and a Jamie Lang penalty.
The former Leinster star would have had a 100 per cent record on the day but for rushing his conversion attempt following Piers O’Connor’s first-half try. “In hindsight that was a poor decision by me,” Madigan admitted of his rushed attempt. “Harry Thacker mentioned to me that he was worried the ball had gone forward in the offload [leading up to the try] and told me to take the kick quickly. But I’ve found out since that the rule has changed. The ref can still go and check. I should have known the rules better.”
Madigan has his doubters. Some believe he may not have what it takes to control matches in the Premiership. But he undoubtedly has a bit of X-factor about him – Joe Schmidt, a shrewd judge of a player, was a big fan. He is also hugely motivated. Having left his province two years ago in search of regular first-team rugby, he believes he can still add to his 30 Ireland caps.
It took a while for Bristol to find their feet. They initially struggled to keep hold of the ball and it was Quins who had all the early possession.
Paul Gustard’s team have been as leaky as a sieve in their three games up until this point, but they have not struggled for tries and it did not take them long to open their account here.
When Bristol strayed offside, Lang kicked for the corner, the line-out was taken cleanly by former Bristol man Ben Glynn, and England scrum-half Care darted through a gap to score the first points of the afternoon.
Lang added the conversion, and then a penalty, as Bristol struggled to get in the game. But when the hosts did finally venture out of their own half it immediately yielded points, Joe Marler giving away a silly penalty which allowed Madigan to get his team up and running.
Marler’s indiscipline was symptomatic of a performance which left Gustard fuming. The 13 penalties they conceded, to Bristol’s six, were for a variety of offences. But in a sense that is even more worrying, as there is no quick fix. “Discipline was a real handbrake on Quins last year,” Gustard said. “And we need to get a hold of it because it’s unbelievably hard to win in the Premiership if you keep conceding 40 metres in territory or three points.”
Quins were reduced to 14 men midway through the first after Ben Tapuai was shown a yellow card for a high tackle and Bristol slowly but surely wrested back control of the contest.
O’Connor scored just before the break following a scything break through the middle by the excellent Harry Thacker. When the ball was held up just short of the line, the similarly excellent Andy Uren picked out O’Connor with a long looping pass as Quins left space out wide.
By half time, Bristol had run 287 metres to Harlequins’ 77 metres, managing seven offloads to Harlequins’ one.
The second half descended into a game of penalties, most of them going Bristol’s way. Marler was sin-binned for a leading forearm on Uren and Madigan stepped up in the swirling breeze to put Bristol 14-10 up. The Irishman was soon on target again from an almost identical spot before Lang knocked one over from 45m to reduce the arrears.
Madigan then landed an even longer one, from way out on the right touchscore line, to restore Bristol’s seven point advantage. Despite there being a good 20 minutes remaining, that was how things stayed.
Harlequins were in theory still in the contest, chasing a draw in the final minute, but they never threatened to the try they needed. Lam, who singled out Uren, Madigan and Thacker for special praise, declared himself delighted with the attitude, dismissing a question about missing out on a bonus point. “It’s four valuable points,” he said. “For us to be two from two at home is something to be proud of.
“We probably didn’t manage that game too well in the first half. But I’m proud of the character we’re showing.”