Following Bristol Bears’ 42-24 win over Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate, here are our five key takeaways from the PREM round one clash.
The top line
A brilliant display in adversity by Bristol Bears and their back-row saw them overcome Leicester Tigers by the skin of their teeth to take a vital bonus-point win at a packed Ashton Gate.
Bears’ tries came from Fitz Harding, Gabriel Ibitoye, Gabriel Oghre, Player of the Match Tom Jordan and that man Louis Rees-Zammit, taking them into bonus point territory.
But at what cost? Pat Lam saw four of his key men, Harry Randall, AJ McGinty, Steven Luatua and Ibiotye, leave the pitch with varying severity of injury, a real concern for the head coach with a long season ahead of his team.
Tigers will be frustrated with their performance, but four tries, courtesy of Adam Radwan (2), Jack van Poortvliet and Orlando Bailey, saw them grab a bonus point.
However, given their scrum superiority, the Bristol injuries and the pace they have on the wings, you can’t help but think they have better performances ahead of them than the stuttering effort seen this weekend.
Pace v structure
This was a match where the pace and flair of Bristol gently dismantled the structure and defence of Leicester Tigers.
Blessed with the superior scrum and with some real power in carry, Tigers relied upon the pace of Radwan to get them the scores they needed to take an early lead.
But despite their power, the sluggish and ponderous service of Van Poorvliet from the base took so much momentum out of their running game, as the scrum-half yet again failed to get passing tempo in his game, despite a good afternoon with his kicking work and personal support lines.
Leicester have only themselves to blame. As the Bears’ injuries count started to mount, Tigers failed to get that speed and directness into attack, slavishly sticking to one out runners off nine and really lacking pace and creativity in the centres. Power running also needs supporting ruck work, and with Leicester’s back-row coming off very much second best, they failed to react to the opportunities wider out.
Bristol might need to think about their defensive work, though. Time and time again, they narrowed up in attack with both centres blitzing hard down the 12/13 channel, but their boot defender at nine failed to react and cover the fold hole on the wide outside. Radwan profited twice from this structural error, and Lam might need to rethink his system if he’s to create greater resilience into his D line.
Bears back-row shine
This win was built upon the excellence of the Bristol back-rowers who, to a man, shaded every battle on the pitch against their Tigers opponents.
The star of the show was Bristol’s skipper Harding, a man who led his team out on his own to celebrate his 100th appearance for his club. He then delivered a trademark display of clever close-quarter work, but as always, some key carrying where his running angles are the absolute feature of his all-around game.
He crashed from close range in the first half, and he moved around the back-row, often scrummaging on his own ball at eight, to deliver a very impressive performance and one that might just see the onlooking Steve Borthwick add yet another classy flank to his long list of back-row options.
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Alongside him, the almost ageless Luatua showed us all of his exceptional skills. Whether it be smashing close-quarter tackles, dominating the airways in the restarts and applying huge pressure on the Tigers’ throw, stealing two in an impressive afternoon’s work, only to find his age catching up with him as a calf niggle curtailed his contribution.
A word for the younger Grondona, Benjamin. Alternating with Harding between seven and eight, the young Puma had a really impressive outing, running 36m from seven thundering carries and nailing three dominant tackles. He looks like an ideal player to add depth to the Bears squad – and judging by today’s injury list, they’ll need it.
Radwan and Zammit
The pre-match billing was all about the Prodigal Son, Rees-Zammit, returning from his failed sojourn into the NFL.
With soundbites like ‘bringing learnings back’, ‘athletic improvement’ and ‘bulking up’ sprinkled around his social media platforms like confetti, the only question was, in the American code where aerialism is a key quality, had he finally learned to catch a high ball?
Based on what we saw at a packed Ashton Gate, the answer is clearly not yet. Once again, the man with some of the fastest feet in the game fluffed his lines in the airways, coming off second best to Ollie Hassell-Collins time and time again. In the modern game, the winger’s role is complex and multifaceted, and right now, there’s a glaring hole in the Welshman’s game.
But on the flip side, the rumours of greater power seemed to be justified, as the big man did a lot of good work carrying into contact, something that wasn’t his forte pre America, and the Welsh flyer had the last laugh as he absolutely smoked Hassell-Collins right in the closing moments of the game, to go 65m at supersonic pace to underline his improved physicality and endurance right at the death.
However, on the Tigers’ right wing, we saw the fireworks that everyone knows Radwan brings. In the backwaters of Newcastle Falcons (the ones that now flow rich with energy drinks), Radwan never got either the ball or the scores his rapidity deserved- but now a Tiger, the guy cannot stop scoring, and on this showing, his one-on-one finishing is exceptional.
England might be stacked with wing options, but there are few with the raw pace of Radwan. It’ll be interesting to track the progress of both he and Rees-Zammit throughout the season, and we’re sure there are going to be many more words written on the pair of them before the campaigns come to a close.
Injury cost
Bristol Bears will be cursing their luck. As Lady Bracknell might have observed, ‘to lose one half back, Mr Worthing, may be classed as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.’
AJ McGinty did nothing more than track across and push off his right foot into the defensive line, but as he did so, his Achilles looked to have given way completely underneath his foot. It was only last season
When he stuffed his knee in the corresponding fixture against Tigers, and now the hugely influential 10 looks to be facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines once scans confirm the extent of the damage.
A few moments later, Harry Randall was clearing from the base of a ruck where a Leicester tackler, in the process of rolling away from an offside position, saw Randall fall backwards and hyperextend his hamstring – a painful injury for the scrum half. It comes at a time when England are really searching for back-up to Alex Mitchell and Ben Spencer, and the way Randall was passing and breaking looked exactly what Steve Borthwick is looking for in terms of nine impact.
Then in the second half, Ibitoye, a man that’s absolutely on fire for Bears, became the third injury concern as he looked to have a left leg injury – hobbling off in the footsteps of his half-back cohorts. And, with the Bears’ physio room resembling a scene from MASH, Lady Luck continued her musing as the towering and influential figure of Luatua hobbled off on the 60-minute mark
Leicester had their share, too, with Hanro Liebenberg taking an early bath as he fell victim to a head impact.
With a long season ahead, title contenders of this standard need all their players fit and firing, and the Bears will be devastated at the loss of two wonderfully influential half-backs and two more of their superstar players.
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