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Bristol claim dramatic win over Northampton with final kick of game

By PA
Bristol Bears v Northampton Saints – Gallagher Premiership – Ashton Gate

Bristol replacement Sam Bedlow kicked a long-range penalty right at the death to snatch a dramatic 18-17 victory and deprive Northampton of a shock win at Ashton Gate.

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Beleaguered Saints had lost 14 of their last 16 matches and had been beaten 47-10 on their previous visit to Bristol in September, but they took advantage of a disjointed effort from a depleted Bears to take the game to the wire.

David Ribbans and Piers Francis scored early tries for Northampton with James Grayson converting both and adding a second-half penalty.

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Henry Purdy and Piers O’Conor went over for Bristol. Bedlow converted one and he, along with Tiff Eden, slotted over penalties – including the final kick of the match which earned the hosts victory .

Bristol should have taken a first-minute lead after the visitors had bungled Bears’ kick-off.

Eden, a last-minute call-up at fly-half, made a neat break but after the ball was recycled, scrum-half Andy Uren elected to go it alone and was swallowed up when a simple pass would have resulted in a try.

Saints soon made their opponents pay when after strong runs from Tom Wood and Api Ratuniyarawa, Ribbans brushed aside two tacklers to run 30 metres and score an excellent individual try.

Six minutes later, Northampton stunned the hosts by scoring a second when a clever kick ahead from Grayson was collected by Francis, who dashed in ahead of two indecisive covering defenders to score.

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Bristol responded with a brilliantly executed three-quarter move which ended with Purdy evading Matt Proctor’s tackle to score to leave his side trailing 14-5 at the end of a thrilling first quarter.

Bristol Bears v Northampton Saints - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bears then opted to take a kickable penalty in favour of an attacking line-out and it looked to have paid dividends when Alapati Leiua crossed after Niyi Adeolokun and Nathan Hughes had been narrowly denied.

However, TMO replays showed Uren had knocked on much earlier in proceedings and the try was chalked off.

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Within four minutes of the restart, Saints lost Francis and Reece Marshall to failed head assessments and Bristol took advantage of the disruption to reduce the arrears with a simple penalty from Eden.

Bristol Bears v Northampton Saints - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bears’ pack were becoming increasingly dominant but Eden missed with two penalties so Northampton still had a six-point lead going into the final quarter.

The home side replaced their half-backs with Harry Randall and Bedlow entering the fray in an attempt to reverse their fortunes, but Saints picked up the next score when Grayson kicked a penalty to give his side some breathing space.

Bristol Bears v Northampton Saints - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Seven minutes from time, though, O’Conor won the race to touchdown a clever chip ahead from Randall to earn Bristol a lifeline.

Bedlow converted and then, with time up, he knocked over a 45 metre penalty to break Saints hearts.

v Northampton Saints – Gallagher Premiership – Ashton Gate” />

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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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