SCOTTISH REJECT INDEPENDENCE AND ACCEPT DEFEAT

In a second v first clash, Bristol claimed the spoils in a six try victory.  Bristol took control in the first half with a dominant forward effort and never relinquished that control even in a distinctly lacklustre second period.  Far from a complete performance, particularly against a side that ended up playing so many out of position, but satisfying to claim top spot early in the season.  Even if we know it is meaningless

Bristol kicked off the first Friday evening game of the new Ashton Gate era, but it was the visiting side that was quickly on the offensive with a good forward drive into the Bristol 22.  Fortunately for Bristol Scottish knocked-on and the resulting scrum was very powerful from Bristol and Scottish were penalised.  Bristol moved over onto the attack and a long kick ahead was just hacked into touch by a Scottish defender.  Quick ball from the lineout was swept swiftly along the line, so swiftly that a three on one overlap developed out right and Auguy Slowik raced in untouched for a converted try.

The restart was knocked-on by the visitors but it was ignored by the officials, however Bristol were quickly back into the visitors’ half with a deft kick ahead from Dwayne Peel that was carried back over the try line to give Bristol an attacking scrum.  Sadly, Bristol made a rather surprising mess of things at the scrum to let Scottish off the hook.  Still Bristol kept up the pressure, only to concede a soft turnover.  Scottish might have taken advantage but the pass to the dangerous Matt Williams was well forward.

Gareth Maule made good ground into the heart of the Scottish defence to set up threatening field position and Bristol pounded away at Scottish only for what looked a clear deliberate knock-on to halt the attack.  Inexplicably it was simply given as a knock-on.  The resulting scrum was utterly dominant from Bristol and Scottish had no legal answer to the forward power.  The referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try, duly converted by Mathew Morgan.

In an effort to gain some territory Scottish kicked long only for Slowik to call a mark and then make an excellent clearance.  However, the defence looked very shaky as the always reliable mantilla sliced it apart to sprint in by the posts for a converted try.  Bristol hit back rapidly with an excellent driving maul (sadly Maule wasn’t involved) that Scottish attempted to halt by subtly pulling it down.  Sadly for them it was not that subtle and the referee awarded another penalty try., and showed Best a yellow card.

Encouraged by their clear superiority at this point Bristol flew forward again and Morgan danced through a bewildered defence to release the dynamic Marco Mama who smashed over for the, converted, bonus point try.  The breathless conclusion to the half continued in another try for Mantella (following a pretty obvious ‘tackle’ by Williams on Morgan when the fly-half didn’t have the ball).  A try that was immediately cancelled out with more outstanding work from the pack and Jack Lam bulldozing over for a converted try that made the score 35 -12 at half time.

The second half rather failed to live up to the standard of the first.  I can tell that because I have just a single page of notes!  And because a small section of the crowd were their own best entertainment, providing a running fashion commentary.  The tone was set by a long penalty from Bristol that failed to make touch and inaugurated a brief kicking duel which is often a sign of sides lacking invention.  Bristol terminated the exchange with an incisive move that was forced into touch about ten metres out before Scottish managed to exert some pressure on the Bristol line aided by two knock-ons ignored by the officials.  Finally a glaringly obvious one was spotted to let Bristol off.

Following this Bristol at last burst into life with some good (and also lucky) handling which took them deep into the Scottish 22.  Another powerful scrum marched towards the line but Peel spotted a gap, picked up and darted over for a converted try.  Scottish retaliated with some sustained pressure in the right hand corner that ended with Heeks scoring an unconverted try.  Bristol made it back into the Scottish 22 and more illegal defence resulted in a yellow card for Maguire.  It also lead to confusion about the subsequent scrum which finally went uncontested.  Earlier Sottish had replaced their entire front row, so it was a little surprising that someone wasn’t available to play in the front row.  In any event the move to uncontested scrums was of no benefit to a pack that was clearly on top and the game ended tamely on this unsatisfactory note.