Semi Precious Victory

last times star
By John Stanton
March 30 2004

Bristol as underdogs stretched away to a fine semi final win on the weekend, but here is a look back to last time they won a semi final to get to Twickenham. Let's make sure of a big crowd there to cheer them on to a (hopefully) better result

Northampton were dealt a blow before kickoff when Matt Dawson pulled out with an unspecified injury and Tom Smith's wife went into labour. Bristol were hit by the late withdrawal of Jamie Williams which gave Matt Carrington a run on the right wing.

Saints kicked off with the wind at their backs and, if anyone thought that they might not be up for it, they were very mistaken. They drove at Bristol from the off. Craig Moir made one blindside break which should have resulted in more than a knock on. Their only reward was a Paul Grayson penalty on 7 minutes.

Bristol tried to put width on the ball and unleash their backs but they were guilty on several occasions on missing kicks touch which put them under pressure. Contepomi responded with a penalty of his own but Grayson hit back immediately with a penalty from an offence at a ruck from the unlikely figure of Jason Little.

Bristol finally got their backs moving on 17 minutes. Phil Christophers skinned James Brooks and got Bristol into the 22. Lee Best found Matt Carrington with a huge miss pass. Carrington skipped inside to set up the ruck, Contepomi ghosted into the line late as Pichot looked right and scorched through the gap. He took a seat in the stand to applaud his own try and then added the conversion.

Grayson nagged away at the lead with another penalty before Contepomi responded in kind. From the restart, Grayson hung up a beauty, Saints regathered and rolled several phases of possession before moving the ball right where Bristol ran out of defenders and Andrew Blowers strolled over. Crucially, Grayson missed the extras and Contepomi added another penalty to make it 16-14 at half time.

Northampton looked as though they were getting the upper hand but Bristol knew that they had the breeze at their backs. It was finely poised and very, very tense.

Bristol scored a fine second a minute in the second half. David Rees came back on the scissors and ripped the defence apart. He beat the final man but was slowed up enough for the cover to catch him. Bristol recycled and Pichot passed right for Contepomi to step his way. Cue the 'meditation' celebration! The conversion made it 23-14 and we dared to dream!

The game took a turn on 55 minutes when Neil McCarthy was sinbinned for tackling the man without the ball. In his absence, Bristol's scrum buckled and they lost their own ball on halfway. Northampton exploited the chance and Grant Seely went over in the right corner. Again the conversion was missed.

They then scored another on the left hand side from close range when Andrew Blowers powered his way over after a spell of pressure and the yellow card looked to have finished Bristol off. 23-24 to Saints.

Dean Ryan sent on Ross Beattie for his first competitive appearance at the same time as McCarthy returned and the whole team, staring adversity in the face, turned it up a notch. Matt Carrington went over on the corner but put a foot in touch. David Rees touched down but referee White had already blown for a penalty. The kick made it 26-24.

Felipe then added two more penalties as the game went into injury time and Bristol had just eased far enough clear. John Leslie was in the sinbin and Saints were having to attack from deep. After 5 minutes of stoppage time, Neil McCarthy hammered the ball into touch and it was all over!

It was a huge effort on a hot afternoon. The boys could so easily folded when they went behind with 15 minutes to go. However, they showed real charcter to bounce back.

The Argentinian half backs ran the show and Felipe Contepomi was a natural choice for man of the match. But not one man let the team down today. From the power up front to the great running lines of the backs, there was 100% commitment.

Players and supporters mixed in the sunshine after the game and everyone's thoughts turned towards Twickenham.