Bears steamroll Dragons for place in Challenge Cup semis
SEMI Radradra produced another magical performance as Bristol progressed to the semis with a seven-try demolition of the Dragons.
The Welsh region had no answer to the pace and power of the Fijian superstar, who capped his display by scoring the best individual try of the night as he raced in from halfway.
Bristol director of rugby, Pat Lam, said: “If you going to bring a marquee player to the Premiership then he has to make a difference.
“I appreciate his work off the ball and of course we appreciate his X-factor but it’s the selfless stuff for the team he does that makes it even more special.
“Just after half-time, he had five touches in quick succession to make a few yards before he gets an opportunity to run 60 metres.”
Radradra was not alone in impressing as he had a keen rival for the man of the match in Saracens’ loanee flanker, Ben Earl, who showed what an asset he will be for the Bears in the months ahead with an all-action performance and a reward of two tries.
Dragons battled manfully against the tide but Bristol always had more potency with Harry Thacker, Luke Morahan and Charles Piutau all dealing the visitors hammer blows at varying stages in the game.
However it was not all plain sailing for Piutau. After a scrappy opening to the game, two major errors from him gifted Dragons a ten-point lead. First he conceded a penalty for not releasing after unwisely choosing to run from under his posts. Then he missed a tackle on Ashton Hewitt as the visitors’ wing collected a well-judged kick from Sam Davies before skinning the full-back with ease.
Bristol’s handling was all at sea in the first quarter as they struggled to come to terms with their opponents’ rush defence but were suddenly transformed to score three brilliant tries in five minutes.
Piutau made amends for his earlier errors with a neat off-load giving Morahan the chance to race away. Henry Purdy made further ground down the left flank before the ball was recycled for Nathan Hughes to stroll over in the opposite corner.
Radradra then made a clean break for Piutau to send Earl over and moments later the flanker had his second by finishing in style after bursts from Thacker and Radradra had created the opportunity.
Sheedy converted all three and added a penalty to give Bears a 24-10 half-time lead before Radradra ensured there was to be no second half comeback from Dragons as he collected Sheedy’s well-timed pass before handing off two defenders on a 60m run to the line.
Spirited Dragons deserved a second try and got one when their captain, Rhodri Williams, darted over to score against his former employers before Sheedy added two penalties.
There were no tries for 23 minutes, but the hosts took advantage of tired Dragons to score three in the last seven minutes with Chris Vui, Max Malins and Dan Thomas all getting on the scoresheet.