Bristol Bears came back to beat Bath Rugby 25-20 at Ashton Gate on Friday night to claim their fifth derby win in a row and move off the foot of the table with a first triumph of the fledgling season.
Bath caused plenty of problems for the Bears, scoring a brace of tries through Will Muir, the second of which was a wonderfully inventive, offloading masterclass, and a single score for Semesa Rokoduguni who was put away down the blindside on the stroke of half time.
All of Bristol's tries came from the forwards, with Steven Luatua crossing before the break and Jake Kerr dotting down from a driving maul later in the game. Referee Ian Tempest, who has come under fire for his performance from fans, pundits and the Bath coaching staff, awarded a penalty try to the Bears in the second half as Tom Ellis brought down a maul from a 5m lineout which looked to be heading over the line.
There was certainly nothing controversial about the penalty try decision.
Bath hooker Tom Dunn also saw yellow in the final quarter of the match for illegally bringing down a maul moments before Kerr scored.
Rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual Bristol Bears performances on the night.
15. Charles Piutau - 7
The Bears full-back was well marshalled by the Bath defence for most of the tie as the visitors committed two players to tackle him whenever they could. That said he was still the focal point of the Bristolattack and threw some sumptuous offloads.
The former All Black took a few too many risks at times in the first half but escaped punishment with some wild offloads being regathered by his team mates.
14. Ioan Lloyd - 8
The phrase ‘Could step you in a phonebox’ was never truer than with Welsh wizard Lloyd who is such a hot-stepping sensation. He consistently makes things happen out of nothing but I am not convinced the wing is his best position as he doesn’t quite have that finishers’ instinct yet.
Still absolutely outstanding making two clean-breaks to help him to 79m gained in attack.
13. Piers O’Conor - 7
The centre had his best game of the season in attack as he choose when to stretch Bath on the outside and went to cut in well.
12. Sam Bedlow - 8
Making his first start of the season the centre put down a marker to own the Bristol 12 jersey which feels up for grabs with Siale Piutau leaving the club in the summer.
He beat a team high four defenders from one clean break and a couple of other half breaks, repeatedly getting the Bears on the frontfoot.
A big game in a huge match.
11. Henry Purdy - 7
Pat Lam said after the match he made eight changes to his side to ignite a spark after a smouldering start to the season, with a call for the squad to remember their ethos of being world class at things that don’t require talent. Purdy sums up that on a rugby pitch.
He works so hard for extra yards, breaks the first tackle more often than not, and just gets the Bears on the front foot and was rewarded by making more metres in attack than anyone else on the pitch with 88m gained.
10. Callum Sheedy - 7
It was a fascinating battle at fly-half as Bath’s young stand-off Orlando Bailey came of age on the Ashton Gate turn, punishing the Bears with his running and kicking game.
In contrast Welsh international Sheedy had a quieter night but had a much better game passing than in the opening two matches of the season which have seen him push passes which clearly weren’t on.
He put a number of team mates through gaps with lovely passes and finished with eight points from two long-range penalties and a conversion.
9. Harry Randall - 8
The England international number nine could have finished with a hat-trick of tries on another day, he was always in support when Bristol broke the line and only some clever marking/blocking and tackling from Bath kept the ball finding his hands.
Randall’s box kicking was on point and his ability to speed up the game with quick tap penalties is so valuable.
1. Yann Thomas - 9
Packing down opposite England’s big tighthead hope Will Stuart, Yann Thomas was a key part of a scrum that won penalty after penalty from Ian Tempest, won every ball on their put in and three of Bath's.
A mammoth display from one of the unsung heroes at the club.
2. Will Capon - 5
Stepping into the shoes of Harry Thacker who missed the game after picking up a hip pointer injury last weekend in the defeat to Wasps, young Capon sadly had a night to forget as his throwing was put under serve pressure at the lineout by Bath’s impressive set-piece and he was hit hard on a couple of occasions carrying the ball, forcing knock-ons.
Capon’s half time replacement Jake Kerr rather feels like he took his opportunity to lay claim to the number two shirt with Thacker and Bryan Byrne out injured. Kerr helped correct the line lineout woes, scored from a maul and make 62m in attack as he repeatedly went through gaps.
3. Kyle Sinckler - 9
The Bristol scrum looked transformed with the British and Irish Lion back in the front row for the first time this season with Sinckler well and truly getting the better of his England teammate Beno Obano.
He was awarded the official man of the match award for the second time in a row in the derby having starred at The Rec at the end of last season as well when he was getting out the hurt of initially not being included for the Lions.
At Ashton Gate on Friday night he just wanted to go out there and perform for the team and boy did he do that.
4. Ed Holmes - 7
The athletic lock put in the pure effort performance you expect from him, coming good in the lineout in the second half after a tough battle with Charlie Ewels, Josh McNally and Tom Ellis in the first half.
5. Joe Joyce - 8
Returing from surgery on his shoulder over the summer Joyce’s energy and passion was exactly what has been missing for the Bears. He made a couple of key recovery tackles and caught the eye with a wonderful long-range break which brought the 24,000 inside Ashton Gate to their feet.
6. Chris Vui - 5
The Samoan skipper was the focal point of the Bears lineout which struggled for at least the first 50 minutes of the match but then became a deadly weapon in the final quarter to deliver the victory.
In open play the game passed him bye a little, missing two of six attempted tackles and making just 2m from five carries and conceding a couple of penalties.
7. Jake Heenan - 7
The Kiwi flanker missed a tackle on Will Muir to allow the former sevens winger, nicknamed The Horse, to gallop in, but generally seemed to be everywhere on the pitch in an all-action display, making a team-high 16 successful tackles and more often than not being the man to take control of claiming the ball from kick-off and restarts.
8. Steven Luatua - 7
The skipper, playing in an unaccustomed position of number eight, scored a wonderful solo try, dummying Semesa Rokoduguni and then speeding through the gap to race in from 25m out, finishing the score with a Chris Ashton-esque dive.
His 57m made in attack from the base of the scrum represents a better return than anything than ‘first choice’ number eight Nathan Hughes has produced.
Replacements:
16. Jake Kerr - 9
17. Jake Woolmore - 8
18. Max Lahiff - 8
19. Fitz Harding - N/A
20. Dan Thomas - 6
21. Andy Uren - 7
22. Antoine Frisch N/A
23. Alapati Leiua - 6.
