Bristol Bears remain second in the Gallagher Premiership following a dramtic draw against 14-man London Irish at Ashton Gate.
In a game where the lead changed a total of eight times, it was Irish who went into the break ahead after a try from Ben Meehan.
Despite scoring four second half tries through Nathan Hughes, Charles Piutau, Ed Holmes and Harry Thacker the Bears couldn’t hold on to victory.
Irish, scored two second half tries of their own, through Waisake Naholo and Tom Parton, despite playing the whole half with 14 men after prop Ollie Hoskins was shown a red card just before the stroke of half time when he struck Chris Vui on the head with his shoulder clearing out a ruck.
The Bears started the game strongly with a number of phases in the Irish twenty-two, but the away side held strong.
It took over 25 minutes for the first points of the game to be scored, when Bears fly-half Callum Sheedy knocked over a penalty from in front of the posts, making up for a previous miss.
Despite some attacking pressure from the Bears, it was London Irish who scored the first try of the game following Terrence Hepetema’s impressive off-load before the ball fell to scrum-half Meehan who only had to stroll over the line, with Stephen Myler adding the extras.
The game was turned on its head just before the break when London Irish’s tighthead Ollie Hoskins was sent off after a dangerous clear-out to the head of Chris Vui.
Bristol re-took the lead soon after the break when Hughes crossed in the corner following an offload from Harry Thacker, who broke well through the Irish defence.
Irish briefly regained the lead through a Myler penalty, but the Bears soon crossed for their second try of the afternoon.
Premiership debutant Toby Fricker broke down the right-hand wing before finding Piers O’Conor with a bouncing pass. O’Conor then fed Piutau who finished the move under the posts.
An injury to Irish’s replacement prop Lovejoy Chawatama meant the final period of the game was played with uncontested scrums.
However, this injury didn’t damper the spirits of the away side with All Black Naholo intercepting Sheedy’s pass to give the visitors their second try of the match.
Myler’s conversion pushed the away side ahead once again, however the lead changed hands once again.
Harry Thacker broke through the middle of the Irish defence, before the ball found its way to Ed Holmes. Replacement Holmes handed off three would be tacklers before scoring in the corner.
A yellow card for John Afoa meant the game was 14 vs 14 for the final stages of the match, and the away side capitalised when Tom Parton crossed in the corner following an uncontested five metre scrum.
But there was still drama to come.
After playing part in the build-up to two tries, Thacker crossed for the Bears bonus point try and Ioan Lloyd’s conversion meant the lead changed for the eighth time.
However, 14-man Irish provided the last piece of the afternoon’s action when fly-half Myler kicked his second penalty of the game to level the scores at the final whistle.
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Toby Fricker; 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren; 1 Jake Woolmore, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 John Afoa, 4 Joe Joyce, 5 Chris Vui, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 7 Dan Thomas, 8 Nathan Hughes
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Alapati Leiua.
London Irish: 15 Paddy Jackson, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Curtis Rona, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Ben Meehan; 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 4 Ruan Botha, 5 Franco van der Merwe (c), 6 Matt Rogerson, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Albert Tuisue
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Steve Mafi, 21 TJ Ioane, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Tom Parton
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley and Paul Dix
Attendance: 15,003
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