Bristol Bears beat Bath Rugby 36-14 at the Principality Stadium on Saturday in Round 16 of the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership
Ellis Genge of Bristol Bears gestures. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Bristol Bears improved their rich form in the derby with Bath with a 36-14 victory at the Principality Stadium in the club’s first attempt to host a big ‘home game’ away from Ashton Gate.
The Bears ran in six tries through Gabriel Ibitoye, Rich Lane, Gabriel Oghre, Fitz Harding, Will Capon and Bill Mata, with AJ MacGinty landing three of six conversion efforts, to see Bristol climb into third place in the standings, one place above their opponents next weekend Sale Sharks.
READ MORE: Bristol Bears 36-14 Bath Rugby LIVE: Highlights and reaction from derby clash
Despite Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan leaving the majority of his international stars at home having already secured a home-semi final, the second string side – many of whom had helped the club lift the Premiership Rugby Cup earlier in this season – stood up well against Bristol’s strongest possible outfit, with two of the club’s brightest young talents Ewan Richards and Ciaran Donoghue crossing the whitewash, with the fly-half converting both tries.
South West rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual performances from the Bristol Bears players…
15. Rich Lane – 7
The full-back had a really influential game as he used his speed to score a try and stop a couple as well, coming up with some important try saving tackles. A couple of loose open field kicks that went straight out hurt his score here slightly.
14. Kalaveti Ravouvou – 7
Switched to the wing from the start, the Fijian international struggled to have a big impact on the game but showed some nice hands and footwork to link with Gabriel Ibitoye in the build-up to Harding’s attacking bonus point gaining try.
13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg – 9
Despite picking up a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Ewan Richards when he got his timing wrong with the man in the air, the South African centre was once again the best player on the pitch as he set the tone with a bone-rattling hit in the opening minutes of the game. A gorgeous pass during a liquid attacking move sent Lane into space to score and he is cruising towards being named the club’s player of the season. Magnificent.
12. James Williams – 7
Brought back into the starting side from the off, the ‘Roy Keane’ of Bristol’s team – according to director of rugby Pat Lam – put in some ‘two-footed tackles’ to leave his mark on the Bath backline. A key recovery tackle on Austin Emens potentially saved a try.
11. Gabriel Ibitoye – 8
The winger showed his sharpness with a cleverly taken try, spotting Bath hadn’t defended the edge of a ruck with sufficient numbers to pick and power over the line for his 11th Premiership try of the season. A constant thorn in the Bath defence as he proved his ability to break the line. The Bears man has to be heading to Argentina with England this summer.
10. AJ MacGinty – 7
Making his 50th appearance for the Bears, the USA international looked like he had plenty of time on the ball all match and he still had the legs late in the day to break through a gap while practically on his own before setting Siva Naulago away down the right wing, with Capon crossing moments later.
9. Harry Randall – 8
The scrum-half was at his livewire best as he buzzed around and injected pace into the game, with only a couple of brilliant recovery tackles from Josh Bayliss saving Bath from conceding tries.
1. Ellis Genge – 8
Fresh from his first call-up to the British and Irish Lions, the loosehead prop was at his bristling best, walking the tightrope perfectly between boiling over and losing his head and being a physical menace on the pitch. A couple of big carries off the back of a significant run-up brought the crowd to their feet. In the setpiece, he gave Wales international Archie Griffin a tough day out at his home stadium.
2. Gabriel Oghre – 8
Having recovered from a dead leg the hooker was everywhere on the pitch, even popping up on the wing with a lovely chip and chase. He touched down at the back of well constructed maul from a 5m lineout.
3. Max Lahiff – 7
The tighthead locked down the scrum, caught the eye with a couple of carries, but earned a yellow card in the first half to put his side under pressure.
4. Josh Caulfield – 7
The lock did the nuts bolts well before making way at half time for James Dun.
5. Joe Batley – 7
Making his first appearance of 2025 the lock had Louis Schreuder in his pocket in the first half as he charged him down on multiple occasions to put Bath under massive pressure. Rock solid in the lineout, a silly yellow card as he played the ball while on the floor and offside, lowered his score.
6. Steven Luatua – 7
The former All Black limped off looking in pain which will cause distress for Bears fans as he always makes Bristol a better side.
7. Fitz Harding – 8
The captain showed remarkable power to barge his way over the whitewash to touch down the Bears’ fourth try.
8. Viliame Mata – 8
Back in the starting side having been on the bench last weekend, the Fijian number eight had one of his best games for the club, despite being shown a yellow card in the second half. He almost cut Orlando Bailey in half with a thunderous tackle which is going to go viral on social media. He showed his speed and athleticism with a 40m run in to finish the scoring for the Bears.
Replacements :
16. Will Capon – 7
17. Yann Thomas – 7
18. George Kloska – 7
19. James Dun – 8
20. Joe Owen – 7
21. Kieran Marmion – 8
22. Siva Naulago – 8
23 Santiago Grondona – 7