Bristol Bears sweating on the fitness of key man after 'tough' victory at Scarlets

Bristol Bears are once again sweating on the health of one of their key men after double try scorer Viliame Mata limped off the field in their narrow but significant 17–16 victory over Scarlets in Round One of the Champions Cup.

Pre-match, director of rugby Pat Lam had billed the game as their most important of the group stages, having seen his side drop out of Europe after the pool stages last season. The victory in Wales illuminates a path to qualifying for the last 16 knockout round with high-flying Pau coming to Ashton Gate next Sunday.

But with Bristol already without the likes of injured starters like AJ MacGinty, Steven Luatua, Harry Randall and Gabriel Ibitoye, they can ill afford to lose Fijian powerhouse Mata for long.

Speaking post-match at the Parc y Scarlets, Lam said: “Bill Mata has a strain on his leg, there were a few knocks, bruises and cuts [to Sam Worsley and Max Lahiff], but hey, we are in the dark depths of Wales in a night game. That was a great experience for our players and a tough experience.

Looking ahead to Pau, who were beaten 35-27 at home by Northampton Saints on Sunday to dial up their desperation for a result, Lam said: “We have got to win next week. Now we are at home, and we are undefeated at home in the PREM. It gives our crowd an opportunity to get behind us. Every coach in this competition would rather be going into round two with a victory, rather than a loss, so we are in a good place.”

Louis Rees-Zammit’s try on 54 minutes proved the decisive moment, ensuring Lam’s side left west Wales with the spoils despite struggling to stay in the top gear they found in the opening quarter of the contest when number eight Mata touched down twice to put his side in a commanding position.

Lam reflected: “One thing away in Europe, it is never going to be easy, and I said to the boys, put yourself in that other changing room, back in the Champions Cup after four years out with a point to prove with Welsh rugby struggling.

“It was never going to be pretty; it was a game we were going to have to gut out. I said after we showed that character to beat Exeter earlier this season [against the odds], it would hold us in good stead later in the season and we saw that today.”

From the outset, Bristol imposed themselves. Ellis Genge’s dominance at the scrum yielded an early penalty, and from the ensuing lineout Benhard Janse van Rensburg carried hard to suck in defenders in the midfield before Kieran Marmion picked out Mata on a powerful angle to score under the posts, converted by official player of the match Sam Worsley.

The Bears’ forward superiority was soon rewarded again, producing a penalty advantage in the setpiece to allow Kalaveti Ravouvou to burst through and risk throwing a sensational out-the-back offload for Mata’s second try.

Worsley, assured throughout, contributed seven points with the boot and directed play well in a fascinating head-to-head with Welsh international Costelow.

But in truth, having raced to a 12-0 lead, the Bears were then guilty of going off the boil as their newly developed kicking game repeatedly saw them miss the mark.

Scarlets, twice, slowly but correctly, were denied tries by the TMO in the first half, but eventually found a foothold.

Bristol were reduced to 14 men when Mata was shown a yellow card for a shoulder to head tackle on centre Johnny Williams and were forced to withstand sustained pressure as momentum swung towards Dwayne Peel’s side.

Scrum-half Gareth Davies sniped over from close range and Sam Costelow’s penalties nudged the hosts into the lead.

Yet Bristol’s response was clinical. From a dominant scrum and a series of forceful carries, Rees-Zammit touched down in the corner, despite tripping as he got the ball, to restore the Bears’ advantage.

Scarlets pressed hard in the closing stages, but a couple of line-out errors took the pressure off the English side, who had a try of their own, for Ravouvou, scrubbed off by the TMO after a forward pass from Tom Jordan was spotted.

That denied the Bears an attacking bonus point, but the four points leaves Bristol in a strong position in Pool 4, sitting third behind last season’s two finalists Bordeaux Begles and Northampton Saints, who both picked up the full five points available.

Scarlets: 15. Jac Davies, 14. Tom Rogers, 13. Eddie James, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Ellis Mee, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Gareth Davies, 1. Kemsley Mathias, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Archer Holz, 4. Sam Lousi, 5. Jake Ball, 6. Max Douglas, 7. Josh Macleod (c), 8. Fletcher Anderson

Replacements: 16. Marnus van der Merwe, 17. Sam O’Connor, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Jarrod Taylor, 20. Dan Davis, 21. Dane Blacker, 22. Joe Hawkins, 23. Joe Roberts

Bristol Bears: 15. Tom Jordan, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams, 11. Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10. Sam Worsley, 9. Kieran Marmion, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. Pedro Rubiolo, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Santiago Grondona, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Bill Mata

Replacements: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. Lovejoy Chawatama, 19. Joe Owen, 20. Benjamin Grondona, 21. Sam Wolstenholme, 22. Aidan Boshoff, 23. Josh Carrington

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)

Assistant Referees: Filippo Russo (Ita) and Franco Rosella (Ita)

TMO: Stefano Roscini (Ita)

Bristol Bears sweating on the fitness of key man after ‘tough’ victory at Scarlets

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