Ellis Genge got a foretaste of life at Ashton Gate as his Leicester side snatched a dramatic win over his future employers and made it a perfect 10 wins out 10 in the Premiership.
Guy Porter went over thanks to a pass from the hooker Nic Dolly who had been fed by Freddie Steward with the clock four minutes in the red to make Tigers the first team to win their first 10 games since Harlequins in 2011.
Genge was celebrating furiously on the touchlines as Porter went over after Leicester looked like they had thrown it away. The Leicester replacement back-rower Jasper Wiese was sent to the sin bin with seven minutes left after his senseless and reckless challenge on the Bristol fly-half Callum Sheedy gave the Wales international what looked like the winning shot at goal which put Bears into a 26-23 lead.
Porter’s score capped an afternoon which will fill Leicester with confidence. They were nowhere their best but got home.
The head coach, Steve Borthwick, said: “The spirit of the players and their fight was outstanding. We made errors in the game and weren’t perfect, but one thing that’s unquestionable about these guys is their fight. Whatever gets thrown at them, they keep finding a way to overcome it.”
But Porter would never have scored his first Premiership try if Charles Piutau, the Bristol full-back, had not tried to keep the ball in play from George Ford’s late kick to touch at 26-23. He was judged to have knocked on and from the scrum Leicester did the damage.
Pat Lam, the Bristol director of rugby, said: “They would have got the lineout. He had to go for that so that wasn’t an issue. I said before the game it would be like a Test match and up until the last play we were going pretty well. We had five minutes to go and we had moments there to finish the game off and cap off a very, very good performance. It wasn’t to be.”
Harry Randall, the Bristol scrum-half, was outstanding in his hour on the pitch, making two tries with his quick thinking and showing why Eddie Jones capped him in the summer.
Saracens cruised to a convincing and entertaining 61-29 win over Worcester to cut the gap at the top of the Premiership table to five points. The hosts showed no signs of rustiness after almost three weeks without a game as they crossed nine times in total.
Alex Lewington and Billy Vunipola scored two tries each and further scores from Nick Tompkins, Alex Goode, Nick Isiekwe, Ben Earl and Max Malins sealed a hugely comprehensive win.
The visitors did score three wonderful late tries to secure a bonus point of their own as Francois Venter (two), Gareth Simpson and Ashley Beck crossed after the break, adding to Joe Batley's try in the first half.
Saracens have 37 points from their 10 games while Warriors stay in 10th as they suffered their seventh defeat of the campaign.
The hooker Dan Frost scored two tries as Wasps picked up a much-needed 38-30 over in-form London Irish. It ended a run of six straight defeats in all competitions for the injury-hit home side, as they moved up to eighth in the table.
It marked the Exiles' first defeat in seven games, but they fully contributed to the entertainment at the CBS Arena with Frost's opposite number, Agustín Creevy, scoring two of their five tries. PA Media
Genge is moving from Leicester to Bristol, where he made his professional debut in 2013 before leaving for Welford Road in 2016, the year he graduated to the England squad. “Gengey’s Coming Home” rang out from the stands at Ashton Gate as the game went into the final quarter with Bears 23-20 ahead. But the game-winning kick came shortly after Genge had been replaced having enjoyed a good afternoon against Kyle Sinckler.
The Genge transfer was given extra spice when Bristol released a welcome video of the prop arriving at their training ground and being greeted warmly by Lam. The Welford Road following were not impressed but his current boss Borthwick has since said Genge’s move west has nothing to do with rugby. It might not, with Tigers riding high at the top of the Premiership.
Randall picked up a loose ball after Ford’s pass hit the floor and scooted off on a diagonal run. That ended when he fed Lloyd who kept the move going before No 8 Fitz Harding crashed over through wing Nemani Nadolo.
Sheedy kept the visitors at arm’s length with two penalties before Nadolo shortened the gap with a chip and chase in the Bristol 22 to leave it 13-10 at the break.
Ford and Sheedy then swapped penalties before Bears finally got a bit of purchase at a scrum and won a free-kick. Randall took it quickly, darted right and fed Radrada who skipped outside before finding Lloyd with a pass out of the back door.
But Leicester then pinned Bristol into their own 22 and a driving maul, from a lineout 15m out, splintered the home defence and the hooker Julian Montoya came up smiling.
Ford levelled it up at 23-23 before Sheedy thought he had won it. Then came Porter.
