Late sub row sparks brawl as Bears rise above chaos
PAT LAM’S Bristol sparked a furious touchline row at the end of their clash with Leicester but the Bears were grinning as they clinched a home semi-final with a
26-23 victory.
The ruck ended up with Leicester backroom staff invading the Bristol technical area, players brawling on the touchline and an 88-minute match.
With the clock in the red, Tigers were camped on Bristol’s line and heaping pressure on the visitors – who had sub prop Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro sin-binned.
That meant tight-head John Afoa – who had played until half-time and had come into the match carrying a knock – being hauled off the bench to comply with safety regulations surrounding front-rowers.
Officials claimed Afoa had been a tactical sub at the break but Lam insisted he was injured and was happy to go to 13 men and uncontested scrums.
As it was, Afoa took the matter into his own hands, went onto the pitch and seconds later Bristol had won.
Lam said: “When he came off and needed to go back on I didn’t realise he was a tactical replacement.
“The Leicester boys came in and started going at us and John said, ‘Stuff it, I am just going on’.
“John played the 40, then we were in injury time and Chaparro gets yellow carded and they are saying Johnny is tactical and I am saying no, he is an injury.
“He wasn’t expecting to go back on and my main concern was the safety of my players.”
On the pitch, scrum-half Harry Randall gave Eddie Jones a nudge with Bristol’s second try – a 40-metre effort after he picked the ball up from a ruck.
Centre Semi Radrada’s second try gave Bristol a bonus point and a 26-16 lead going into the last quarter before Tigers fought back with Julian Montoya’s score.
But Bristol held on when the chaos kicked off.