I never lost belief, says Lam, after brilliant Bears comeback
Reports on Bristol’s victory against Leicester at Welford Road
BRISTOL Bears came back from the dead at Welford Road to overturn a 19-point deficit and beat Leicester Tigers 21-19 thanks to a Magnus Bradbury try in the 80th minute.
Bristol cemented their place in the play-off positions with a threetry smash-and-grab job on the road, exploiting a second yellow card for Tigers winger Mike Brown which saw the hosts go down to 14 men for the final eight minutes of the game. Brown was penalised in the first half for a cynical playing of the ball on the ground and then late in the game for an unfortunate head-to-head collision with Benhard Janse van Rensburg.
The Bears replacements made a huge impact in the tie, with Harry Thacker exploding off the bench, after the starters had tenderised Leicester without benefitting on the scoreboard. Max Lahiff, pictured, touched down for a brace of short-range tries before Bradbury finished a free-flowing attacking move that started deep in the visitors’ own half, stretching out a long arm to level the scores at 19-19 with AJ MacGinty’s second successful conversion winning the tie. James Williams also scored a conversion.
Leicester had built what looked like a comfortable lead with a brace of tries for winger Ollie HassellCollins before replacement loosehead Francois van Wyk touched down for what at the time looked like a killer blow, with Handre Pollard scoring two of his three conversion attempts.
But having seen multiple passes go to deck in the first 69 minutes, Bristol discovered their ruthless streak just in time to salvage a famous win on the road. Bristol were forced into a late change as Rich Lane came in for Max Malins at full-back and Piers O’Conor stepping up among the replacements.
The visitors conceded a stream of early penalties, with Gabriel Ibitoye paying the price for his side’s indiscipline as he was sent to the sinbin in the 16th minute and it was not long until Leicester finally struck.
From a ruck, Jack Van Poortvliet fed Dan Kelly, whose long pass picked out Hassell-Collins in space to finish down the left, with Pollard converting from out wide.
The hosts then lost their oneman advantage as Brown was shown a yellow card by referee Matt Carley.
Bristol thought they had struck back when hooker Gabriel Oghre scampered the ball clear following a short line-out, but the score was disallowed due to Ellis Genge’s return pass travelling forward.
This allowed Leicester to retain their 7-0 lead into half-time, with the hosts being denied soon after the restart when a good tackle by Joe Batley dislodged the ball from the hands of the charging Jasper Wiese.
But the Tigers scored their second try in the 48th minute as the ball went through Kelly and Pollard’s hands before Freddie Steward’s pass put Hassell-Collins in at the corner again.
The hosts looked to have the result wrapped up after 65 minutes when replacement prop Van Wyk managed to force his way over from
close range, with Pollard’s conversion taking the gap to 19-0.
But Bristol finally got themselves on the board when Lahiff managed to barge his way through Leicester’s defence, which had been resolute to that point. The hosts were then down to 14 men when Brown was sent off for a second yellow card following a head-on-head collision with Van Rensburg.
The Bears then ensured a big finish when Lahiff managed to force his way over again with five minutes left, with MacGinty’s conversion reducing the deficit to five points. Incredibly, the visitors snatched victory off the final play as Bradbury just about managed to get the ball down near the posts, with MacGinty’s conversion completing a startling turnaround.
Pat Lam, Bristol’s director of rugby, said he never lost belief his players would come away from Leicester with a result.
Lam said: “I know we can score four or five tries in the space of 10 to 15 minutes, so I was looking at the clock and said: ‘Keep going, keep believing.’
“That’s why at half-time I was showing them there was plenty of opportunity here and they were doing exactly what we’re doing let’s just make sure we do what we’ve got to do.
“We just weren’t quite accurate and a couple of guys weren’t in the right places (in the first half), so they knew that if we don’t try and make something happen, just be in a position and someone will make a line break and then get to them.
“Then just keep going and try and keep the tempo up because we could see they were starting to get heavy on their feet, with their big forwards, as well.”
Leicester head coach Dan McKellar said: “Ultimately, the second card for Brownie hurt us - 19-7 up, we were well in control of that game. (We had) a line-out in the A-zone, instead it was a penalty against you, you go down to 14 and they’re a tough team to defend against with 14.
“I thought we were outstanding today for 70-odd minutes and to be honest I can’t believe I’m sitting here as a losing coach.
“We just need to reflect on the whole year; that’s another close loss at home when you think of Sale, Harlequins, Gloucester and now Bristol.
“You win those games - those tight ones at home - and all of a sudden, you’re sitting pretty in the top four. There’s a lot of learnings to come out of this year, but at the right time we’ll look at that and review it and make sure we’re better for it.”
Leicester Tigers: Freddie Steward; Mike Brown, Matt Scott, Dan Kelly, Ollie HassellCollins; Handre Pollard, Jack van Poortvliet; James Cronin (Francois van Wyk, 59), Julian Montoya (Charlie Clare, 59), Dan Cole (Will Hurd, 59), George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell, Jasper Wiese.
Bristol Bears: Rich Lane (Piers O’Conor, 67); Siva Naulago, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, James Williams, Gabriel Ibitoye; AJ MacGinty (Virimi Vakatawa, 62), Harry Randall (Kieran Marmion, 71); Ellis Genge Jake Woolmore, 67), Gabriel Oghre (Harry Thacker, 67), Kyle Sinckler, James Dun (Josh Caulfield, 59), Joe Batley, Steven Luatua, Fitz Harding, Magnus Bradbury.