Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Thriller! 14-man London Irish snatch dramatic draw at Bristol after red card

Oli Hoskins walks

A late penalty from Stephen Myler saw 14-man London Irish earn a battling 27-27 draw against Bristol at Ashton Gate.

ADVERTISEMENT

The visitors had just taken a 7-3 lead when Ollie Hoskins’ careless shoulder charge into a ruck connected with the head of Bristol lock Chris Vui on the brink of half-time. Replays of the incident were played and referee Wayne Barnes ordered the prop off.

Nathan Hughes, Charles Piutau, Ed Holmes and Harry Thacker scored the Bears’ tries, with Callum Sheedy kicking a penalty and conversion. Ioan Lloyd added a conversion.

Ben Meehan, Waisake Naholo and Tom Parton scored tries for Irish, with Myler adding two penalties and three conversions.

Video Spacer

A brilliant run from Piutau was the first notable piece of action. Inside his own 22, the Bristol full-back collected an aimless kick before beating three opponents.

He then raced over halfway before kicking ahead but visiting centre Tom Stephenson beat Toby Fricker to the touchdown.

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

ADVERTISEMENT

After 12 minutes the home side suffered a blow when their flanker Dan Thomas departed with a leg injury, with Scottish international Luke Hamilton coming on to replace him.

Sheedy had the chance to put the first points on the board in the 21st minute but his 40-metre penalty attempt rebounded back off a post.

Five minutes later, Sheedy succeeded with a simple kick to get the scoreboard moving.

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

A handling error from Naholo gave the hosts an attacking platform but Irish continued to put in a committed tackling shift to keep their line intact and were rewarded with the opening try.

ADVERTISEMENT

A neat off-load from centre Terrence Hepetema created space for Curtis Rona before his inside pass sent Meehan over.

Myler converted, with Sheedy making a hash of a penalty attempt before Hoskins was red-carded to leave Irish 7-3 ahead at half-time.

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate
After the interval, it took Bristol only five minutes to break down the 14 men, with Thacker’s burst setting up a try for Hughes.

Sheedy’s conversion hit a post before Myler put Irish back in front with a straightforward penalty but Bristol exploded into life with an excellent try.

Quick handling gave Fricker the chance to fly down the right flank before the supporting Piers O’Conor provided Piutau with an easy run-in.

 

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

However Irish would not lie down, with Naholo intercepting and racing 60 metres to score before Bristol immediately withdrew Sheedy and Hughes.

Bristol looked in serious trouble but another strong burst from Thacker split the defence before a superb run from replacement Holmes, who evaded three tacklers, saw him score.

Bristol then lost prop John Afoa to the sin bin and Irish immediately capitalised when Parton sneaked in at the corner before Bristol looked to have won it with their bonus point try.

Their star player, Thacker was the scorer but up stepped Myler to hold his nerve and succeed with a 40-metre kick.

The match in images: 

 

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears v London Irish - Gallagher Premiership - Ashton Gate

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

S
SK 37 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

The way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.

28 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ 'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame' 'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame'
Search