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Bristol beat Bath in Prem bottom battle

By PA
Bath v Bristol – Gallagher Premiership – The Recreation Ground

Bath remain rooted to the bottom of the Premiership table after their fierce rivals Bristol won an error-ridden clash before a capacity crowd at The Rec.

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It was only Bristol’s second away win in their last 15 trips but it maintained their recent impressive run against Bath after they beat them for the seventh time in eight outings.

Bristol scored two tries to one with Siva Naulago and James Williams both crossing with AJ MacGinty kicking a penalty and a conversion.

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Miles Reid scored Bath’s try with Piers Francis adding two penalties and a conversion but crucially the home fly-half missed with three kicks at goal which ultimately proved decisive.

Bristol conceded three early penalties and from the third, Francis had the chance to give his side the lead but his kick from 50 metres fell short.

That was as close as either side came to scoring in a disjointed first 15 minutes with the teams illustrating why they lie in the bottom three of the Premiership table.

After a plethora of knock-ons and wayward passing, Bristol conjured up the first score of the game when a well-timed pass from Harry Randall let Semi Radradra burst through the home defence to set up a try for Williams.

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MacGinty converted for Bristol to lead 7-0 at the end of the first quarter before Bath again missed the opportunity to come onto the scoreboard when Francis missed a straightforward penalty.

The home side were given three further kickable penalty chances in quick succession but changed their tactic and opted for attacking line-outs.

Joe Cokanasiga came close to scoring but the wing was forced into touch by an excellent cover tackle from Gabriel Ibitoye.

From another penalty close to the visitors’ line, Reid forced his way over with a conversion and a penalty from Francis giving Bath a 10-7 lead at the interval.

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The hosts lost Cokanasiga at half-time to an injury and within two minutes of the restart they suffered another blow when Bristol regained the lead.

A clean break from MacGinty put the defence on the back foot and when the ball was recycled, Naulago brushed aside a weak tackle from Matt Gallagher to score.

Bath’s woes continued when full-back Tom de Glanville left the field for an HIA but their spirits were restored when first MacGinty was yellow-carded before Francis kicked the resulting penalty.

De Glanville and MacGinty both returned and it was the Bristol fly-half who put Bears back in front with a simple penalty with 14 minutes remaining before Francis crucially missed with a 35-metre kick to give Bristol the points.

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

Bath v Bristol - Gallagher Premiership - The Recreation Ground

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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