Bristol Bears beat Gloucester Rugby 40-24 at Kingsholm in the second pool stage game of the 2025/26 PREM Rugby Cup Louis Rees-Zammit of Bristol Bears goes over for a try. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Bristol Bears beat Gloucester 40-24 at Kingsholm in the second round of the PREM Rugby Cup on Friday night with set piece dominance aiding the away side to victory.

With a complete destruction of the young Gloucester forwards, the Bears’ pack’s effort were converted into tries with hooker Gabriel Oghre securing himself a double as well as fellow forwards Sam Grahamslaw, Paddy Pearce, and Joe Owen joining him on the scoresheet.

The Bears’ pack wasn’t the only notable Bristol takeaway however, as Louis Rees-Zammit’s return to Kingsholm was nothing short of cinema. A try, a dropped ball over the line to deny a second, and a yellow card were amongst the several glimmers of what we’ve all been missing while he was across the pond.

Unable to leave their home turf without a fight back, tries from Will and Max Knight, Rhys Davies and Ewan Caven showed promise in Gloucester’s youth, and despite the loss, the future looks bright for their young academy prospects

Rugby writer Harry Papworth takes a closer look at the individual performances of the Bears players…

15. Tom Jordan – 8

The Scot impressed on debut for the Bears. Signs of class were starting to show as he grew into the game, with some lightning foot work in the wide channels. Jordan’s backfield positions were spot on, and he looks a real threat ball in hand.

14. Louis Rees-Zammit – 7

The first-half was indeed the Rees-Zammit show. He scored in the 21st minute of the game with an Incredible finish as he showed his lightning pace and charged around Gloucester full-back Jake Morris. The ball broke to Rees-Zammit in the 27th minute and he expertly grubber kicked down the line and showed his pace. All he had to do was regather the ball to score but he spilled it five metres out! The Gloucester fans enjoyed that one as they booed and heckled the Bears winger throughout. Soon after, he got yellow carded for being a main contributor in an old-school rugby brawl with Caio James, who also received a yellow. The two Welshmen were still banging heads as they walked off the pitch in the 35th minute in a moment of pure rugby theatre.

13. Joe Jenkins – 6

Sin binned late into the second half for slowing the ball down as Gloucester were threatening the Bears line, meaning the Cherry and Whites were down to 13. The academy product did defend the wide channels decently.

12. Toby Baker – 7

Played very straight and direct to the line and made good decisions. His best moment came when he made a skillful offload to Rees-Zammit for his try.

11. Aidan Boshoff – 6

The winger was of position at times in the back field but when he had the ball in hand the 19-year-old coped well. He also put in a huge defensive tackle early in the second half to stop an encouraging looking Cherry and Whites attack.

10. AJ MacGinty – 8

Pulled the strings early doors, putting Rees-Zammit into space on multiple occasions. MacGinty was 75% off the boot, nailing three out of his four conversions. The playmaker controlled the game well. MacGinty made great decisions post contact as often he would get his hands free to offload to oncoming Bears support runners. Bristol’s attacking fluency wasn’t the same when the 10 went off.

9. Harry Randall – 7

Broke through a tiny gap in the 17th minute of the game. Dangerous at the fringes as ever. Had a few perfect passes over the top of defenders to put wingers into space. The England scrum-half showed his class in the first half and spurred his side on to a convincing victory.

1. Sam Grahamslaw – 8

Scored in the 25th minute from a classic pick and go at the bass of a ruck. The 6ft 4 Englishman dominated opposite man Harry Wright at scrum time, a great display of strength and technique from the loose head prop.

2. Gabriel Oghre – 8

A dominant maul from a 5m line-out saw Oghre dot down for the Bears’ first try. Oghre scored again in the 41st minute from an almost identical set-piece situation to his first try, the benefit of an extremely impressive Bears mauling display. The lineout was a success all game and the England hooker was at the heart of that. He showed great defensive precision on his own line to prevent Gloucester from scoring early in the second half.

3. Lovejoy Chawatama – 8

Showed power and dominance at scrum time winning numerous penalties to put the Bears on the front foot. Bristol’s scrum was that dominant they started opting for scrums in the opposition 22. A real positive for Pat Lam’s men.

4. Paddy Pearce – 6

Cheaply conceded two first-half penalties for not rolling away. At the heart of an all-round brilliant defensive maul set for the Bears. Scored in the 51st minute and got injured in doing so which saw the end of the 21-year-olds evening.

5. Joe Owen – 7

Had a good line out steal in the 7th minute and looked like the main line out jumper. Dotted down late in the second half for Bristol’s bonus point score as the second rower powered through under the sticks from close range. The second rower had a great game defensively and looked to be everywhere around the park, a true workhorse.

6. Luka Ivanishvili – 7

Quiet game in the first half but made many bruising tackles. Sings of good things to come for the Georgian powerhouse. Looked incredibly strong in contact and with ball in hand.

7. Kofi Cripps – 6

Conceded an early penalty for an infringement in the line out. The 22-year-old defended well and was very solid at the set piece which was Bristol’s main threat all game. Great to see him back injury free after a torrid year or more.

8. Ben Grondona – 7

A quiet game from the Argentinian back-rower. He needed to get his hands on the ball more and show his carrying ability but a couple of offloads split the home defence.

Replacements:

16. Tomas Gwiliam – 8

Came on in the 48th minute. A powerful carry and offload to assist Paddy Pearce as Bristol reached the 40-point mark. The hooker Looked busy around the park and accurate when throwing in at the line-out.

17. Louie Trevett – 7

18. Jimmy Halliwell – 7

19. Kenzie Jenkins – 6

Jenkins came on in the 50th minute replacing Joe Jenkins. He Won a penalty at the breakdown which put the Bears on the front foot with an attacking lineout in the Gloucester 22.

20. Fits Harding – 6

A fresh look for captain Fitz Harding as he came on in the centres with ten minutes to go, something that Pat Lam has never experimented before. Unfortunately, the Bears didn’t see much of the pill late on in the game so we couldnt much of Fitz Harding in this new look position.

21. Max Pepper – 6

On in the 55th minute. Had space to run in the 63rd minute but appeared to just travel sideways as he was chopped down with ease. Started on the wing and moved to scrum-half when Randall went off. Looked more at ease when he was at nine. Glimpses of the speed he has to offer showed.

22. Sam Worsley – 6

100% off the tee, nailing the fifth try scored by Oghre from the right touch line. He didn’t control the game as well as MacGinty, however he showed promising signs for the season.

23. Evan Morris – 6