Some players should be embarrassed – George
GEORGE Skivington declared that he expected some of his players to be “embarrassed” by their defensive efforts after a fired-up Bristol Bears ran around, through and over Gloucester Rugby to score five tries in their Gallagher Premiership victory.
Two tries for Magnus Bradbury, plus scores for Fitz Harding, Gabriel Oghre and player of the match Benhard Janse van Rensburg gave the visitors five points in the table to remain firmly in the play-off picture, while the Cherry & Whites’ task of earning a European Champions Cup spot got that much harder.
Gloucester – who led 24-19 at the break thanks to scores from Josh Hathaway, Santiago Carreras and Adam McBurney – simply could not cope with the onslaught provided by the visiting Bears as they fell of tackles and wilted under the ferocity of the bombardment.
Skivington reflected: “If I’m being honest, Bristol were the better side today. I thought in attack we were okay in the first half, but defensively we were miles off.
“That wasn’t Gloucester defence, that was passive and submissive. Bristol win that first collision then they get on top of you and offload the ball. I think we stood off them all day. That was a severe drop-off from where we have been in the last couple of games.
“For a couple of their tries they literally ran through us and that isn’t good enough at this level, and we will definitely be talking about that.
“I think we’re all disappointed. I will be disappointed if there are not a few lads who are embarrassed by their individual performances. I think we were better defensively in the second half, but we didn’t really put ourselves in a position to fire a shot because Bristol were very good.”
Hathaway scored the opening try when collecting his own chip ahead, with Carreras converting.
The home cheers proved shortlived, however, as the Bears soon clawed themselves level, Harding finishing off good approach work involving Steven Luatua, Ellis Genge and Janse van Rensburg. AJ MacGinty converted.
Gloucester then hit the Bears with two tries in the space of three minutes with Carreras intercepting to race in unopposed and hooker McBurney finishing off a slick move.
However, the Bears then scored two tries of their own – bisected by a Carreras penalty – as Oghre burst away and Bradbury went over in the corner.
Bristol had much the better of the second half, but errors and stubborn home defence kept the home side in front. However, Bradbury eventually found his way over from close range, MacGinty converting, and Janse van Rensburg secured the win for the visitors five minutes from the end, MacGinty again adding the extras.
Gloucester: Evans; Hathaway, Harris, Llewellyn, Thorley; Carreras, S Varney; Ford-Robinson, McBurney, Gotovtsev, Clarke, Jordan, Ackermann, Clement, Mercer. Replacements: S Atkinson for Llewellyn (59), May for Thorley (73), Englefield for S Varney (50), Rapava Ruskin for FordRobinson (50), Balmain for Gotovtsev (50), Tuisue for Clarke (54), Ludlow for Mercer (54). Not Used: Crane. Scorers – Tries: Hathaway, Carreras, McBurney. Cons: Carreras 3. Pens: Carreras.
Bristol: Malins; Heward, Janse Van Rensburg, Williams, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Sinckler, Dun, Batley, Luatua, Harding, Bradbury. Replacements: Naulago for Heward (53), Marmion for Randall (73), Lahiff for Sinckler (66), Owen for Batley (62). Not Used: Davies, Y Thomas, Heenan, Ravouvou.
Scorers – Tries: Harding, Oghre, Bradbury 2, Janse Van Rensburg. Cons: MacGinty 4.
Referee: Tom Foley (RFU).