By Sam Jess
The A4 derby is always one of those fixtures that provides entertainment, and today was no different as the visitors showed a clinical edge in. Tries from Max Malins, Bernard Janse van Rensburg, and a brace from Grodona gave the Bears a 26-7 lead, with Sam Harris scoring for Bath.
Despite Bath finding a purple patch with quick tries from Guy Pepper and Will Butt, Bristol iced the win thanks to a maul try from Gabriel Ogrhe.
Bristol have been scoring tries for fun this season, and after only 88 seconds, Max Malins was
on the scoresheet as Gabriel Ibiitoye busted his way past several Bath defenders before
eventually finding the offload, allowing Malins a dive into the corner. After the Bears tore it up, Bath looked to have found a response on turnover ball with Ted Hill crossing in the corner, but referee Christoph Ridley had other ideas, ruling along with the TMO that Hill had lost control.
Bath weren’t to be denied for long, with Sam Harris, on a rare start for Bath, running straight
through the heart of the Bears kick defence out, pacing Randall and Malins for a glorious score. The back-and-forth nature of the game continued, as Ted Hill had a few minutes to forget, first conceding a penalty for pushing before missing Grondona in the resulting attack as the Bears debutant raced away for a solo try.
Bristol punished Bath’s lack of ruthlessness with some of their own as more compounded errors; this time, Harris gave the Bears another visit to the 22. Once again, they found a score, this time from Benhard Janse van Rensburg, who dotted down after Gabriel Ogrhe caught Bath napping. With the momentum fully behind Pat Lam’s men, they began to hold the lion’s share of possession, and after several chances came and went, they found the bonus point just before half-time as Grondano grabbed his brace from close range.
Bath needed a fast, but they got the opposite. Bristol received the kick-off before making their way inside Bath’s within a few minutes, and their carries dominated the defence to earn an easy three points. Bath found something in response, and when the visitors eventually went down to 14, but again Bath could not find the score, with Charlie Ewels knocking it on before Guy Pepper touched down.
The game again was being played in Bristol’s half, but still, the Bears, with a few dubious calls,
were holding but on 55 minutes, a bit of Finn Russell magic broke the dam as a lovely floated
pass found Will Butt, now on the wing, for the try. After a sloppy first 50, Bath found the magic with a beautiful piece of attacking rugby from deep as they went 70 meters with Russell break and pass the key moment as Molony scored from the Scot’s offload.
However, the Bears would ice the game a few moments later thanks to a wonderful line from AJ Macginty, which saw Sam Underhill binned d for a cynical ruck infringement before they rumbled over from the maul. A late try from Ollie Lawrence gave Bath a try-scoring bonus-point, but it was a tough day for the hosts at the office.
ENGLAND POTENTIAL:
Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol Bears) – Ibitoye has to be knocking on the door for a start in England’s Autumn Internationals; the winger once again showed his explosiveness and offloading ability to catch defenders napping this time in Bath.
Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears) – Another Gabriel, this time Oghre was outstanding against the close rivals. His control over the maul is exceptional, and his attacking work on the loose gave Pat Lam’s men many meters.
STAR PLAYER: Santiago Grondona (Bristol Bears) – On debut for his new club, the flanker caused havoc, breaking tackles left, right and centre, as well as scoring a brace. Life at Bristol could not have started any better.
BATH RUGBY: 26
Tries: 4 (Sam Harris 11′, Will Butt 55′, Ross Molony 58′, Ollie Lawrence 75)
Conversion: 3 (Finn Russell 12, 56, 59)
Penalties: 0
Yellow Cards: 1 Sam Underhill 61,
1 Beno Obano, 2 Niall Annett, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Ted Hill, 7
Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid, 9 Ben Spencer (100) ©, 10 Finn Russell, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie,
12 Will Butt, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Tom de Glanville, 15 Sam Harris
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Sam
Underhill, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Jaco Coetzee
BRISTOL BEARS: 36
Tries: 4 (Max Malins 1, Santiago Grondona 18′, 36′ Benhard Janse van Rensburg 26′)
Conversions: 4 (AJ MacGinty 2′ 19′ 37′ 63′)
Penalties: 3 (AJ MacGinty 42′)
Yellow Cards: 0
Bristol Bears XV: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Gabriel Ochre, 3 Max Lahiff, 4 James Dun, 5 Joe Batley, 6
Steven Luatua, 7 Grondona, 8 Fitz Harding, 9 Harry Randall, 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Rich Lane, 12
James Williams, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 14 Gabriel Ibitoye, 15 Max Malins
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Joe Owen, 20
Benjamin Grondona, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joe Jenkins, 23 Jack Bates
