The Gallagher Premiership season still has nine months to run but the newly styled Bristol Bears are already up and roaring. If proof were needed that Pat Lam’s promoted side will be no easybeats it duly materialised in front of a record stadium crowd as the hosts gave their old rivals Bath a rousing West Country hurry-up.
On this evidence Bristol’s positivity will be an adornment to the league, even if they briefly made heavy weather of defending an early 9-0 lead against a Bath squad coated in a fair amount of early-season rust. The critical breakthrough finally arrived with seven minutes left when a juggling Alapati Leiua dived over in the left corner, rewarding his team for their spirit, endeavour and superior skills.
A lot of water has flowed under the Clifton Suspension Bridge since Bristol were a real force in the rugby world but something is definitely stirring beside the Avon Gorge. Lam’s team have a gleaming home ground to match any in the league and are not going to sit passively by and wait for others to determine their fate. With their captain, Steven Luatua, in indomitable mood and their Irish fly-half Ian Madigan slotting four penalties this was a perfect launchpad to a campaign which will be well worth watching.
Bristolians are crying out for a rugby team good enough to compete at the top end of the table and would love to be annoyingly noisy M4 neighbours as far as Bath are concerned. Hence the vital importance of this gala first night. In perfect conditions there were plenty of inevitable early nerves but Bristol’s intent was obvious. Luatua was a conspicuous presence from the outset and Madigan’s ninth-minute penalty duly rewarded the Bears for their positive start.
There was further encouragement for the home support when Rhys Priestland, who missed two costly penalties, saw his first attempt bounce away off an upright. Bath then squandered a certain try when a mortified Tom Homer saw the ball slip from his grasp in the act of touching down with no defenders in the vicinity. “It was a game we let slip through our fingers and we’ll rue our mistakes,” sighed Bath’s director of rugby, Todd Blackadder.
The watching England head coach, Eddie Jones, will also have winced at the funereal pace of Bath’s game at times. Bristol’s backs did their best to inject some momentum but, without much in the way of territory, the hosts spent large chunks of the season’s opening half-hour on the defensive.
They should also have had a try on the board when Luke Morahan, after a slashing 50-metre break, failed to find his support with the line at Bristol’s mercy. A second penalty from Madigan offered some consolation, with the crowd further buoyed by the adventurous passing game being attempted by Lam’s backline. In terms of imagination and movement the Bears were looking much the brighter team.
A third Madigan penalty made it 9-0 before Homer redeemed himself with a 53rd-minute try, converted by the previously luckless Priestland. A yellow card for a deliberate knockdown against Tusi Pisi gave Bath a further boost but, despite the considerable efforts of Zach Mercer, Bristol had the last laugh.
Morahan, so quick off the mark, bought himself a precious half-yard of space and Leiua, doing brilliantly well to cling on to the ball at pace, did the rest. Madigan’s conversion attempt bounced off a post and Leiua had another late score disallowed but, ultimately, it mattered not. The Wurzels’ Drink Up Thy Cider was soon blasting out of the speakers and Bristol were well and truly back.
Lam’s pride afterwards was obvious. “It’s been a big day for the club. There’s a long way to go but it’s a good start for us.” The Bears will also hope to have the lethal Charles Piutau back fit at some stage. Their highest-profile signing is seeing a specialist on Saturday for further checks on a damaged shoulder but the club remain optimistic their All Black full-back will be available in November. Where Bristol will be in the table by then is tricky to predict but already they are relishing the bear necessities of Premiership life.
