BEARS IN LATE SHOW
Nail-biter as Bristol’s pressure pays off
PAT LAM’S Bristol staged a smashand-grab raid to rob Saracens and close in on succeeding them as champions. A sixth straight Premiership win moved the Bears second behind Exeter and further justified owner Steve Lansdowne’s monster investment in the club.
But on a miserable day at Ashton Gate their starstudded team had to win ugly, taking the lead for the first time with just three minutes left.
“We love to entertain everyone,” said Lam, who had recruited Semi Radradra and Kyle Sinckler during lockdown with the promise of fireworks. “But it was about playing the conditions
BRISTOL
and taking your chances. If we want to be the team we want to be we have to win in different styles. We showed a lot of heart.”
Saracens bossed large periods of the game, belying the turmoil at a club condemned to relegation for salary cap breaches and forced to offload half a dozen of its best players.
Injuries to England trio Owen Farrell,
Elliot Daly and
Brad Barritt further weakened them, yet with Alex
Goode calling the shots they had victory in sight when handing Bristol a get-out-of-jail card. Replacement scrum-half Aled Davies fluffed a box kick, Sarries were caught offside and from Callum Sheedy’s resultant kick to the corner, Siale Piutau took set-piece ball to the line. Jamie George tried to intercept the threat but the England hooker came in from the side and ref Matt Carley awarded a penalty try. The Londoners deserved more for their effort as they build towards next month’s rescheduled Champions Cup quarter-final at Leinster. Goode’s clever prods and pokes, combined with his team-mates’
KICKS: Callum Sheedy suffocating kick-chase, pinned the home side deep in their own territory for long periods.
Maro Itoje put in a mighty shift and there was the heartening sight of England No8 Billy Vunipola back to something like full bore after a quiet World Cup and a fourth broken arm.
But Bristol found a way to turn a slow start into a win.
Having absorbed a world of pressure, they broke upfield and although Luke Morahan’s solo try, from a brilliant arcing run, was chalked off for a marginal obstruction, it gave them the belief for one final push to bag that late penalty try.
“We knew it would be an arm wrestle,” said Piutau.
BRISTOL: Try: Penalty. Sheedy (3). SARACENS: Pens: Goode (2), George (2).