Bristol Bears march on in the European Challenge Cup with a 37-11 victory over Stade Francais.
After a poor first half Bristol scored three tries in the final 15 minutes to secure their third victory of the qualifying campaign.
Luke Morahan, Harry Thacker, Charles Piutau and Toby Fricker crossed for the homeside will Ian Madigan kicked 11 points and his replacement Ioan Lloyd four.
Stade made Bristol work for their victory at Ashton Gate, taking the early lead thanks to a try from Lester Etien while impressive fly-half Joris Segonds kicked two penalties.
Bristol Bears rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual performances at Ashton Gate
15. Charles Piutau - 9
His salary has never been disclosed but he is worth every penny of whatever large sum it is. The full back scored a try in the second half and gave the scoring pass for Toby Fricker’s 80th minute bonus point score.
14. Luke Morahan - 7
The Australian scored the Bears’ first try of the game as the ball bounced to him from a charge down. He kept the French club side’s defence on their toes with his searing pace.
13. Piers O’Conor - 7
The centre worked hard through out and used his elusive footwork to try and find a way through the visitors but their aggressive rush defence caused him and the Bears some problems.
12. Sam Bedlow - 8
A powerhouse in defence as always and played a pivotal role in the late bonus point try by rising high to pluck the ball out of the sky from the restart in the build-up.
11. Alapati Leiua - 7
The winger made an impressive return from the knee injury which has sidelined him since the Bath game back in October. He bounced his way through a couple of tackles as he made yards every time he touched the ball.
10. Ian Madigan - 7
The fly-half finished with a 100 percent record from the kicking tee, finishing with 13 points from three penalties and two conversions. He landed a beautiful cross-field kick for Steven Luatua to race onto. Stade’s rush defence looked to isolate him and their success in doing so led to their only try of the match.
9. Harry Randall - 7
The scrum half was a live wire throughout but found few gaps in a very solid Stade Francais defence, when he did escape in the first half he got turned over.
1. Jake Woolmore - 8
The prop was everywhere as he was named the official man of the match after making countless tackles and anchoring the scrum.
2. Harry Thacker - 7
The hooker scored a try at the bottom of a driving maul in the second half but he overthrow a couple of lineouts.
3. John Afoa - 6
The prop was replaced at half time after picking up a dead leg in the first half but was a class act when he was on the field.
4. Dave Attwood - 7
The summer signing was brought to Bristol exactly for games like this when some extra grunt is required for an arm wrestle against a powerful French side. He carried well.
5. Chris Vui - 7
The second row carried hard and was the go to man in the lineout.
6. Steven Luatua - 8
The skipper’s charge down on Joris Segonds was a key moment of the game as the ball bounced straight into the hands of Morahan.
7. Jake Heenan - 7
The openside flanker returned from an ankle injury to replace the injured Dan Thomas and won a couple of key turn overs and was a good link man.
8. Nathan Hughes - 7
The number eight delivered the go forward he was brought in for and battled through some cuts to the face which required him to leave the pitch for treatment.
Replacements:
16. Will Capon N/A, 17. Jordan Lay, 18. Nicky Thomas - 6, 19. Ed Holmes - 6, 20. Luke Hamilton - 6, 21. Nic Stirzaker - 7, 22. Ioan Lloyd - 7, 23. Toby Fricker - 7
