Record Crowd See Bristol Move Back to the Top

Lineout
By Ian Todd
December 30 2006

Bristol went back to the top of the Guinness Premiership table as they scored the only tries of the West derby to win 16-6 and complete a season's treble over Bath. The match was switched to Ashton Gate where almost 21,500 supporters set a new record for a regular season match.

The start was reminiscent of the game at the Wreck, with B**h starting the stronger and attempting to build an early lead. The weather was an important factor with Bristol playing into what looked a strong wind along the Williams Stand. The Bristol lineout looked, surprisingly, to be continuing the performance against Leicester and Mark Regan threw long at an early lineout well inside the Bristol half. No player on either side jumped for the ball which was taken by an unmarked B**h player at the tail. The Bristol defence coped well and forced a quick turnover. The clearing kick was returned with interest as Berne made good use of the wind. Shaun Perry, who had been practicing before kick off, launched a steepling kick that was well fielded by the B**h fullback Stephenson. He ran powerfully close to the try line but was held out by the defence. The ball came back on the B**h side but the chance was lost with an accidental offside when the ball carrier ran into his own man. From a Bristol throw at a lineout B**h came away with the ball and Bory put in a dangerous run before being well stopped by Josh Taumalolo. The ball went to touch and B**h were untroubled by Bristol at the lineout. The ball was worked forward and Bristol went offside at the ruck to conceded the penalty. Barkley was accurate with his kick and it was 0 – 3 with nearly 13 minutes gone.

Bristol were stung into action by this score and soon came close. Berne attempted to clear a Bristol kick from within his 22 only to see it charged down by the ‘giant’ Taumalolo. Taumalolo hesitated for a brief instant, unsure where the ball had gone, and this was sufficient to allow the ball to just elude him as it went dead from the far too small in-goal area (another reason why Ashton gate isn’t good for rugby). David Hill shortly made an incisive break that disrupted the B**h defensive alignment. The ball was quickly moved wide to David Lemi who went over the line in the corner, attended by several B**h defenders. The referee asked the TMO to adjudicate and after a considerable delay, exacerbated by the absence of a big screen for the record crowd to form its own opinion, he ruled that the ball had been knocked forward. B**h won the resulting five metre scrum, but the defensive kick was well fielded by Craig Morgan who ran the ball back. The ball was then chipped into the heart of the B**h defence as the Bristol attack followed up. The B**h defender palmed the ball back and was deemed to have deliberately sent the ball dead. Bristol kicked the penalty to touch and went for the catch and drive. B**h hauled the maul down and gave away another penalty. Bristol again drove for the line and this time Gareth Llewellyn stretched out a mighty arm to dab the ball down over the line for the first try of the game. Hill was narrowly wide with his conversion attempt (is he used to the near silence or would a Kiwi prefer a more raucous atmosphere?) and the score stood at 5 – 3 to Bristol with 25 minutes gone.

Bristol’s lead was to be short-lived when they were inexplicably penalised at a scrum and Barkley kicked the straightforward penalty to give B**h a slender lead of 5 – 6. Bristol would have none of this and Dan Ward Smith made his now traditional televised run through a packed defence to within a few metres of the line. The ball was recycled quickly only for the hideously offside Short to block the ball. He was rightly yellow carded and B**h were perhaps lucky to escape a penalty try with their defence hopelessly out of position. Frankly there were a lot of niggly off the ball incidents throughout the match (most, though not all, from B**h) and I was disappointed with the referees tendency to lecture rather than card. However, Hill made no mistake from the resultant penalty and Bristol had restored their lead at 8 – 3. There was one last incident of note when Barkley launched an optimistic drop goal attempt from the halfway line. It was always well wide and far too low, prompting some debate as to when a drop goal attempt becomes kicking the ball dead. So the first half came to a close. On balance Bristol deserved the lead after a scrappy first half and having weathered both the initial B**h onslaught and the wind.

It was Bristol’s turn to start strongly with both Alfie To’oala and Ward-Smith prominent in the early exchanges. B**h then had an attacking opportunity but Perry, showing that the wind was still gusting strongly on the Williams side, kicked the ball way downfield to the B**h 22. The Bristol lineout was far more robust and they got their hands on the ball and drove towards the line only to be halted illegally. Hill went for goal from wide out and was well wide with the attempt. It was a tough kick and many felt that touch or even the scrum would have been a better option. Unfortunately, Perry was injured at this point and was left clutching his ribs. He elected to stay on and was promptly flattened at the next breakdown. This time he was replaced by Brian O’Riordan. Bristol continued to maintain the territorial pressure and Lee Robinson and, once again, Ward-Smith made good runs. B**h encroached at the ruck and Hill, from an easier position, made no mistake with his penalty kick to extend the lead to 11 – 6 with nearly half an hour still to play.

It looked as if Bristol were determined to keep B**h in it when they made a mess of dealing with the restart and promptly gave away a penalty as B**h attempted to maul the ball forward. Fortunately Barkley was wide with the kick. Soon Bristol received a true setback when Regan was sinbinned for a late ‘tackle’ on Walshe as the hooker doubtless exacted his own retribution for earlier incidents. B**h went for touch and were awarded a penalty as they drove Bristol back. However, the B**h hooker Mears had decided he couldn’t face playing without Ronnie as he too received a yellow card; this one for over vigorous rucking (i.e. stamping). More importantly it meant the penalty was reversed and the danger was cleared.

Bristol looked to be trying to finish the game off and Taumalolo now went for the optimistic drop goal with a similar style and result as Barkley’s earlier effort. However, Bristol were not to be denied and, with the game well into the final quarter, won good turnover ball on the B**h 22. Hill launched a superb cross field kick to the right hand corner. Robinson was following up at pace and rose above the defender to grasp the ball and touch down. Surprisingly the TMO was called for once again. Bristol had meanwhile retreated to their half and the crowd attempted to influence the process by chanting their mantra. The try was, inevitably, given and it was 16 – 6 to Bristol as Hill was unable to make the tough conversion.

Both sides now made replacements as B**h attempted to get at least a losing bonus point from the game and Bristol to secure a significant victory. Matt Slater received a rousing cheer as he returned to action from injury and, very soon thereafter, a warm welcome from the B**h back row! B**h managed to force Bristol into coming offside as they worked their way into the Bristol half. The resulting penalty kick was from right in front of the posts although well out and Barkley was again wide with the attempt. Bristol struck back with a forward drive of their own and retained possession well, eating up both territory and, crucially, time. B**h were reduced to hauling down the maul as Bristol drove but Hill’s kick was, again, wide of the posts. B**h strove to get into a scoring position but the Bristol defence coped admirably and contained their efforts. The crowd counted down the final seconds of the game and the whistle went on the third Bristol victory of the season over B**h.

More importantly (and those who have followed Bristol since at least the early 1980s will know how good it is to be able to write this) it was a victory that moved Bristol back to the top of the league table at the halfway mark in the season. For a team so widely touted as favourites for relegation it is a remarkable position. In all honesty I still think we are two points from safety! Success this season has been based on a solid forward platform and a resolute, well organised defence. Equally this was true of the performance against B**h. The lineout looked vulnerable in the first half and the decision making left something to be desired. Several individuals enhanced their reputations; Dan Ward-Smith, David Lemi, Lee Robinson and Darren Crompton all contributed well. Overall Bristol coped well with the limited approach of B**h without ever playing at their best. I continue to feel that our best performances were early in the season with the most complete being against away to Worcester (despite their current lowly position). B**h, of course, will point to their extensive injury list (as does virtually every side we play) in mitigation. Indeed their front row resources are, unlike Duncan Bell, very slim. That’s their problem; we can only beat the team they put out. Having suffered for a number of years it is nice to be able to approach these local derbies with a degree of confidence. The remaining half of the season will contain sterner challenges and it will be interesting to see how Bristol meet them.