Lam’s Bears dish out 13-try mauling

BRISTOL ran in 13 tries in a club-record Premiership win as they piled on the misery for winless Newcastle and leapt up into the play-off places.

Pat Lam’s team scored more than 50 points for the third home game in a row as they lived up to Newcastle’s consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond comparing them pre-match to the Harlem Globetrotters. Bristol were in front inside 83 seconds and had a bonus point after 15 minutes, the fastest team to reach that mark for 20 years, as they moved up to fourth with three games to play. Newcastle meanwhile fell to a 15th league defeat out of 15 this season. The hosts scored seven first-half tries from seven different players as Siva Naulago, James Dun, Max Malins, Magnus Bradbury, James Williams, Ellis Genge and Benhard Janse van Rensburg all crossed. Further tries followed after the break for Harry Randall, Kieran Marmion, Jake Heenan, Virimi Vakatawa (twice) and Van Rensburg’s second. Newcastle stole two intercept tries from wing Adam Radwan and fly-half Brett Connon, but were utterly outclassed.

‘I thought we’d taken a couple of steps forward over the last month but that’s certainly a step back,’ said Diamond. ‘It gives us a line in the sand. We didn’t get off the bus at all.’

Bristol’s Premiership run-in is far from straightforward — Leicester away, Saracens at home and Harlequins at the Stoop — but they are a team high on confidence and will take some stopping in terms of clinching a top-four place.

‘The boys have been going hammer and tongs at each other in training, all fighting for places,’ said Lam, ‘and the pace that we’ve been training was reflected out there. I’m really proud of the boys, really pleased for them all.’