Bristol Bears held on to a 36-27 victory over Newcastle Red Bulls on Saturday, thanks to the huge impact of their powerful bench.
Here are our five takeaways from the match:
Top Line
It was a thrilling occasion at Ashton Gate, with both sides flying out of the traps in an attempt to get the opening score.
Newcastle were the first to dish the ball through the hands; however, it was eventually dropped on the wing by number 8, Ollie Leatherbarrow. This was the first indication that this could be another day of promising build-ups, but poor executions from the north-east side. Our worries were shortly extinguished, however, with Newcastle breaking the spell and bowling over for the first try through prop Murray McCallum.
The visitors continued their early dominance minutes later, with the incredibly elusive Oliver Spencer flying over with a true winger’s score in the corner.
Bristol, always entertaining, responded with a great try of their own. Louis Rees-Zammit was the recipient of a well-worked backs move, trotting over to dot down for the hosts’ opener. The Welsh star backed up his score just minutes later with an assist of his own, offloading the ball to Matias Moroni to glide through and take the Bears into the lead.
As the end of the first half loomed, Bristol looked set to take control. Newcastle, however, had other ideas as Leatherbarrow stormed through two Bears players to regain the lead for Newcastle.
The second half kicked off with the Red Bulls looking to build upon their lead, but their optimism was soon exhausted thanks to some brilliant heads-up rugby by Harry Randall. He took the attack against the grain, allowing for quick hands by the outside men to put Noah Heward over the line for Bristol.
The ever-impressive Sammy Arnold helped to return fire for the Red Bulls, smashing through the Bears’ defence and setting up the deadly Spencer for his second try over in the left-hand corner, this time.
As it was, the balance swayed once more, with replacement Ellis Genge steamrolling through the Red Bulls’ defence, before Bristol recycled into Kalaveti Ravouvou’s hands to score. Rees-Zammit was next to regain the lead, gliding through the broken Newcastle defence. Finally, the power from the replacement Gabriel Oghre secured victory for Bristol, taking them beyond one score.
The final 20 minutes were shaky for the eventual winners, however. Two sending off meant that the hosts had to finish the game with just 13 men, and Newcastle looked to have scored with a minute to go, but knocked on just as they reached the tryline.
Final score: Bristol Bears 36-27 Newcastle Red Bulls
Louis Rees-Zammit’s best position
It almost feels as though the rapid outside player has graduated from the wing and become a fully qualified full-back. This is no slight on wingers, but it just feels as though Rees-Zammit was born to play at the back.
Pat Lam clearly wants to get the speedster on the ball as much as possible, and with 112 metres made from eleven carries, three line breaks and two tries scored, it’s difficult to argue that he’s best suited to 15.
Against Newcastle in such an open game, he threatened every time he got the ball. If he wasn’t beating players, he was drawing in multiple defenders to release his outside backs.
There are now so many strings to his bow – he can pass, kick, run, tackle, offload and even playmake; it feels that full-back is now his to own.
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Newcastle finally have points on the board
When the Falcons were bought out and became Newcastle Red Bulls, everyone knew that they would not become world beaters overnight. But even so, achieving not even a single bonus point loss in their opening seven matches of the season was poor for anyone’s expectations.
On Saturday, however, they provided their first major point of optimism since their inauguration. They made it clear how they want to play. They were fluid, exciting, and never once gave up.
Players such as Arnold and Spencer stood up, going toe-to-toe with the established Bristol roster full of international talents. Against more structured sides, Newcastle may struggle more than they did today, but they did prove that they cannot be completely written off in any game.
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Bristol indiscipline
Joe Batley received a 20-minute red card with 19 minutes left on the clock, and Ravouvou was shown a yellow with just minutes remaining, causing Bristol to finish the match with just 13 men.
This could have caused catastrophic consequences, particularly considering the topsy-turvy nature of the match. Neither side had been able to keep hold of a lead for long, so with Bristol short on players, many would have predicted a Newcastle comeback in the dying moments.
In fact, if it weren’t for a last-minute knock-on from Newcastle, Bristol could well have been forced to desperately hold on during the final moments.
So, whilst it didn’t directly affect the final result, their lack of discipline could be a genuine cause for concern as the season bears on.
Bristol bomb squad
Bristol were against the pump when Genge, Oghre and Pedro Rubiolo arrived on the field in the 43rd minute. A minute later, Noah Heward was over the line for the west-country side.
It was the exact burst of energy the home side needed. Player of the Match, Genge, was utterly sensational, as he charged through the Newcastle defence time and time again, knocking over multiple would-be tacklers to put his side back on the front foot. Oghre got on the scoresheet himself, helping to finally secure victory for the Bears.