Bristol surge to seventh straight win as Radradra goes close to Lam boast
Gloucester 24 Bristol 33
Chris Harris may have had a sleepless night in the build-up to confronting Bristol’s new Fijian superstar centre Semi Radradra, but he could well have a few lingering nightmares after facing him.
Radradra may not have lived up to his billing by Bears coach Pat Lam as the best player in the world on his debut last weekend, but he certainly looked something closer to the mark in a frantic west country derby.
“He was a handful and he played really well. The first 20 minutes were pretty poor by us and at halftime we said we had to shut down the space we were giving him,” said Harris, who at least grabbed a try in return for the one his opposite number scored.
As for the new Gloucester head coach, George Skivington, he was also full of admiration for the new megastar signing at his club’s noisy neighbours.
“He’s pretty special. After all the talk about him, he certainly showed what it was all about,” he said.
“I thought we did a good job of containing him for most of the game, but he is an outstanding player.”
Skivington was left to rue a slow start that saw his side concede 19 points in as many minutes. They closed the game to nine points in the end, but could not stop the visitors from securing their first win at Kingsholm since March 25, 2006.
“We made a slow start and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. We weren’t clinical enough in the good areas we got ourselves into,” added Skivington.
No doubt inspired by the news that Sale Sharks had failed to pick up any points against Premiership leaders Exeter Chiefs earlier in the day, the Bears started at a furious pace and bagged a bonus point within half an hour, with tries from Max Malins, Henry Purdy, Harry
Thacker and Radradra. Still nine points behind Exeter after a seventh straight win, but now six clear of third-placed Sale, they have to recover to face their two biggest rivals in the next week.
“We kept taking the pressure off Gloucester by making fundamental errors and playing messy rugby. We were inaccurate and we know we’ll have to be much better on Tuesday night against Exeter,” said Lam.
“The flow of the game was average, particularly in the second half. We have to be extra clinical and not get carried away.
“As for Semi, he doesn’t have to live up to anything. Everyone got a touch of what he can do tonight, but he is determined to be even better than that. I thought he was pretty outstanding last week against Saracens and I’m pleased for him. I know what he can do and when everyone else does their job around him, it can give him space.
“So, it is exciting and I’m also pleased for Kyle Sinckler, Ben Earl and Max Malins. They are all starting to feel part of the furniture.”
Gloucester hit back with two tries of their own before the break, from Fraser Balmain and Harris, and then bagged a third from replacement scrum-half Stephen Varney. A fifth try from Earl settled matters, though, and now the Bears march on to their top-of-the-table showdown with the Chiefs looking for a notable double.