Bristol Bears were beaten 48-31 by Northampton Saints at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens in Round 15 of the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership
Siva Naulago of Bristol Bears. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Bristol Bears suffered a third straight defeat in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday after going down 48-31 away at Northampton Saints to leave their tilt for the play-offs in doubt.
A late rally saw the Bears salvage an attacking bonus point, thanks to a brace of tries from Gabriel Ibitoye and solo scores from Deago Bailey, James Williams and Kieran Marmion, but the defending champions were in fine form, scoring with a brace of tries from Tommy Freeman and scores from Alex Mitchell, Curtis Langdon, Emmanuel Iyogun, Juarno Augustus and Henry Pollock.
South West rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual performances from the Bristol Bears players…
15. Rich Lane – 6
The full-back was full of running and was key to the Bears breaking out from deep on a couple of occasions.
14. Deago Bailey – 5
The winger made a couple of eye-catching carries with the ball but got exposed positionally a couple of times with Northampton seemingly targeting his wing with a number of well-executed kicks. Replaced midway through the first half.
13. Kalaveti Ravouvou – 5
The Fijian could have had a couple of first-half tries but his first was disallowed for a forward pass in the build-up from AJ MacGinty and the second chance was denied by a stunning tap tackle from James Ramm when he looked to be away. Moved onto the wing early with Pat Lam opting to bring on James Williams. Run over with too much ease for Juarno Augustus’s try.
12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg – 7
The centre was a one-man wrecking ball in defence and repeatedly made the hard yards.
11. Gabriel Ibitoye – 7
The winger scored a brace of tries to ensure Bristol left Franklin’s Gardens with a bonus point which could prove vital in the race for the play-offs. His first was rather fortunate as a terrible charged down kick was gathered by Randall and returned to Ibitoye to finish, bamboozling a couple of defenders with his one-handed waving around of the ball. The second was from a quick tap penalty, finished with a clinical dive in the corner.
10. AJ MacGinty – 5
The USA international found himself boxed in by Northampton’s oppressive defensive as he failed to make any of his eye-catching line breaks and saw a couple of passes drift forward, one of which cost the Bears an early try.
9. Harry Randall – 5
The England international struggled with slow ball at the breakdown while his opposite number Alex Mitchell had an arm-chair ride on his way to being named player of the match. A distant second best to his opposite number on this occasion. Made a couple of poor choices to run when a kick would have been better but showed his sharpness to snaffle up a loose ball from Ibitoye’s charged down kick to play link-man to put the winger away just before half time.
1. Ellis Genge – 5
The England prop cast a frustrated figure with Northampton full of trickery and dark arts in the scrum to restrict the loosehead from fully utilising his power in the set piece battle, but it was on display at times in the loose, particularly in the second half with the Bears taking the more direct route.
2. Harry Thacker – 5
The hooker made a couple of eye-catching breaks but then lost control of the ball at the breakdown as the visitors failed to capitalise on their opportunities. Picked off at the lineout on a few occasions.
3. Max Lahiff – 6
The tighthead prop made some meaty carries and held his own at the scrum.
4. Josh Caulfield – 5
The lock struggled to make an impact on the game with the lineout struggling
5. Joe Owen – 4
It wasn’t the lock’s day as he spilled passes and struggled with the physicality of the game on his return from a shoulder injury.
6. Steven Luatua – 6
Making his 150th appearance for the club, at times the flanker looked like a one-man resistance at the breakdown as he desperately tried to slow down Northampton’s lightning-quick attack with limited success.
7. Santiago Grondona – 3
The flanker was a penalty machine to invite Saints into striking distance time and time again. Completely outplayed by Henry Pollock as he was unable to dictate the tempo of the breakdown as the Argentina international got schooled by the much younger man.
8. Fitz Harding – 5
The Bristol captain struggled to get his teeth into the game on either side of the ball as Northampton were able to run riot in attack.
Replacements:
16. Gabriel Oghre – 6
17. Yann Thomas – 6
18. George Kloska – 6
19. Viliame Mata – 6
20. Ben Grondona – 4
21. Kieran Marmion – 6
22. James Williams – 6
23. Siva Naulago – 5