By Ben Thorne
A last minute Alex Lozowski penalty took the spoils in an absolutely thrilling encounter between Bristol Bears and Saracens, as the visitors won 37-35.
An early try for the hosts, scored by Fitz Harding, set the tone for the frantic match that unfolded, with five tries in the first half and four in the second. A try for Harry Randall and a second for the skipper as well as scores from Toby Knight and Rotimi Segun completed the try count for the first half.
In the second half, Harding completed his hattrick, followed quickly by a Toby Fricker try for the Bears while Elliot Daly scored a second half brace for the London side which eventually won them tie.
Bristol Bears started very quickly, winning a penalty in the opening minute and kicking to the corner; from the resulting lineout, skipper Harding crashed over from the back of a maul to make the score 5-0.
Soon after AJ MacGinty kicked a penalty in the 11th minute, Saracens mounted an attack of their own sending Tobias Elliot to within five metres of the Bristol line. Gabriel Ibitoye conceded a penalty for playing the ball on the floor and was shown a yellow card, giving his opposition a chance to attack against 14 men.
After a couple of phases on the Bristol five-metre line, Toby Knight carried over which (with Lozowski’s conversion) took the score to 8-7. The hosts responded quickly, it seemed Benjamin Elizade was going to lose possession but he regained the ball quickly and exploded down the left wing, around the Saracens defence, before connecting with Randall who crossed the paint.
Within a minute of the Bears try, Saracens were deep inside Bristol territory and seemed likely to score but for a brilliant defensive effort from Toby Fricker, who held Knight up, over the line. The visitors counter attacked Bristol brilliantly, spreading the ball through the hands of Elliot Daly before coming to Segun whose mesmerising run down the left flank led to a score in the corner.
Lozowski converted with a challenging kick, giving the London side the lead in the 27th minute. An outstanding cover tackle from Daly prevented Fricker from scoring Bristol’s third, the Welsh winger received the ball from an arching line and looked to have scored but his foot was in touch as he grounded the ball.
A couple of minutes later Bristol did bag their third, Santiago Grondona got the Bears to within five metres of the tryline and after a number of phases, Harding crossed the line. MacGinty converted, taking the score to 20-14. Late in the half, Lozowski kicked a penalty cutting the hosts lead to three points at the interval.
Bristol started the second half in a similar vain to the first – with Harding crossing the line, this time to complete his hattrick. Ibitoye made a brilliant run from inside his own 22, culminating in an audacious offload to Joe Jenkins who worked his side into opposition territory, where captain, Harding, crashed over.
It was double jeopardy for Saracens as Alex Goode was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock-on, in the buildup to the try. Very soon after, Fricker dove over; Harding and MacGinty combined to drive the Bears into the Saracens 22 from deep inside their own half, before passing wide to the winger who finished in the corner, making the score 32-17.
Saracens responded in less than a minute, a Bristol error from the restart gave the visitors ball in the 22 and after a few phases Daly crossed the whitewash on the right touchline. Lozowski converted cutting the gap to eight points. A Lozowski penalty in the 53rd minute was cancelled out by a MacGinty penalty, seven minutes later.
Bristol pressurised the Saracens line for a sustained period of play but in the 73rd minute a quick counterattack saw Daly cross the line for his second try of the afternoon. Lozowski converted brilliantly again to make the score 35-34, setting up another grandstand finish at Ashton Gate.
In the last play of the game, Bristol conceded a penalty in a kickable area giving Saracens an opportunity to steal the game. Lozowski continued his flawless performance with the boot, kicking the penalty to win the game for the visitors, making the score 37-35.
BRISTOL BEARS: 35
TRIES: 5 (Harding 2’, 37’, 41’ Randall 20’, Fricker 45’)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (MacGinty 38’, 43’)
PENALTIES: 2 (MacGinty 11’, 60’)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Ibitoye 15’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Rich Lane 14. Toby Fricker 13. Jack Bates 12. Joe Jenkins 11. Gabriel Ibitoye 10. AJ MacGinty 9. Harry Randall 1. Ellis Genge 2. Gabriel Oghre 3. Max Lahiff 4. Josh Caulfield 5. Joe Batley 6. James Dun 7. Santiago Grondona 8. Fitz Harding (c)
Replacements
16. Harry Thacker 17. Jake Woolmore 18. George Kloska 19. Joe Owen 20. Benjamin Grondona 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Sam Worsley 23. Benjamin Elizade
SARACENS: 37
TRIES: 4 (Knight 16’, Segun 25’, Daly 46’, 73’)
CONVERSIONS: 4 (Lozowski 17’, 26’, 47’, 74’)
PENALTIES: 3 (Lozowski 39’, 53’, 80’)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Goode 43’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Elliot Daly 14. Tobias Elliot 13. Alex Lozowski 12. Josh Hallett 11. Rotimi Segun 10. Alex Goode 9. Ivan Van Zyl 1. Rhys Carre 2. Theo Dan 3. Marco Riccioni 4. Maro Itoje (c) 5. Hugh Tizard 6. Theo McFarland 7. Toby Knight 8. Tom Willis
Replacements:
16. Jamie George 17. Phil Brantingham 18. Alec Clarey 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. Nathan Michelow 21. Gareth Simpson 22. Tom Parton 23. Brandon Jackson
FIVE TALKING POINTS: Bristol Bears 35 – 37 Saracens
1. Bristol Bears unique style of attack
Bristol have scored 176 points so far this season in just five games, the most of any team in the Gallagher Premiership and today was no different. The Bears scored five tries this afternoon, including two in the early stages of the second half.
Mark McCall was full of praise about the Bears way:
“Nobody else attacks like this, it’s incredible because we know it’s coming. They scored from two restarts in the start of the second half – and we practiced defending against that all week, but they still scored. It is an absolutely phenomenal way of playing and must be an absolute joy to be a part of.
Pat Lam said: “The way we attack is based on mindset, but there is also a lot of clarity about what is expected from you in that particular jersey; we had Jack Bates and Joe Jenkins in the centres today and all they had to do was emulate how Jimmy Williams and Benhard Janse van Rensburg play in the system. It seems structured and it is structured, but it’s all about knowing what your role is in the system which the boys do really well, so it is good.”
2. Harry Randall’s in a rich vein of form
Harry Randall was certainly one of the best players on the pitch this afternoon, as he is often and his coach Pat Lam was delighted with his scrum half’s performance today.
The Bears Director of Rugby said: “I think he’s in hot form, he plays brilliantly within our structure and gives us so much quick ball which is instrumental to our attack.
3. Alex Lozowski’s kicking performance
The Saracens kicker was absolutely flawless with the boot today, slotting seven kicks from seven including that penalty in the last play of the game.
Reflecting on his kicker’s performance, Mark McCall said:
“He was brilliant today; his place kicking was 100% and we absolutely needed it today.”
Pat Lam also praised the outside centre: “He has been a real thorn in our side over the last few years, he is an unbelievable kicker every time we play him. Alex is great, I sent him a message in the week congratulating him for his callup to the England squad after a long break from the setup, I love stories where players bounce back like he has and wish him the best.”
4. A number of young players featured in today’s game
Both Pat Lam and Mark McCall were keen to highlight the number of young players that turned out for either side today. Both Saracens and Bristol Bears reduced the sizes of their squads this season, in order to breed a new generation of players and a number of them were in action today.
Mark McCall said: “There is a new spirit in this group for sure and we saw that because a lot of the younger lads ended up playing the game today, Toby [Knight] tonight was magic for us and we had a lot of other young guys playing. It was great to see Phil Brantingham playing as well as Brandon Jackson and Tobias Elliot.
Pat Lam said: “Fitz Harding pointed out the number of younger players that we had playing today. We had two centres who are 22 and 21 years old and they both did some great stuff. Sam Worsley came on for his first Premiership appearance so there were definitely positives to take from the game.
5. Nick Isiekwe’s 150th match for Saracens
Isiekwe came off the bench this afternoon to make his 150th appearance for Saracens and certainly made an impact when he came onto the field. He was supremely physical during his period on the pitch and stood up as a real leader to the younger players on the field.
Mark McCall said: “Isiekwe was immense today, when he came onto the field I thought he made a real impact on the game and was probably one of the main reasons why we came back to win.”
