Bristol Bears<\/a> players…<\/p>\n15. Benjamin Elizalde – 7<\/strong><\/p>\nThe full-back made a key break on the outside in the first 30 seconds of the game to spark the break for Genge’s opening try. He then perfectly executed an up-and-under, which he regathered himself at full speed, which was a moment of class from the Argentine. In the second half, Elizalde made a crucial try-saving tackle, which stopped Pau from scoring their third try. A good outing from Elizalde, who replaced Louis Rees-Zammit in the starting lineup.<\/p>\n
14. Kalaveti Ravouvou – 8<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Fijian scored in the 35th minute. A perfect pass from Janse van Rensburg meant he could run on to the ball at pace and sprint 20 metres to score in the corner. He started the game with flair down the left wing, chipping the ball in behind, which set up Genge to score in the following phases. Looking deadly and dangerous with the ball in hand.<\/p>\n
13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg – 8<\/strong><\/p>\nScored the sixth try for Bristol as he chased a chip from Marmion and somehow regathered a tough bouncing ball with defenders all over him. Janse van Rensburg set up Bristol\u2019s fourth try as he broke the line and had the composure to pass to winger Ravouvou who was never going to be stopped. He was sometimes a little off with his decision-making, one time giving an interception pass to Pau off the back of a lineout strike. He made up for this by putting Grondona through a huge hole, which led to Marmion\u2019s try. Another impressive performance from one of the Bears’ most consistent players.<\/p>\n
12. James Williams – 6<\/strong><\/p>\nWilliams is always a carrying threat in the centres, and that didn\u2019t change today, making good yards through his leg drive. He was caught on the wrong side of the ref on occasion, once throwing a forward pass and once having his hands on the floor.<\/p>\n
11. Aidan Boshoff – 8<\/strong><\/p>\nBoshoff scored Bristol\u2019s eighth try of the game, piercing straight through the middle of Pau\u2019s defensive line to go sprinting under the posts. He started the game off as he meant to go on, carrying hard down the right wing and drawing in three defenders, allowing Ellis Genge to plough his way over the line. Soon after this carry, he made a great tackle on Reece Hewat, which made him lose control of the ball and regain possession for the Bears in a dangerous position.<\/p>\n
10. Tom Jordan – 8<\/strong><\/p>\nStepping in at fly-half today, Jordan controlled proceedings and made great decisions at the right times. He carried the ball well when he needed to and picked good passes to put his team in good attacking positions. The Scot also had an accurate day off the kicking tee, slotting 8\/9.<\/p>\n
9. Kieran Marmion – 9<\/strong><\/p>\nA true scrum-half support line saw him get the third try of the game for the Bears, as Grondona offloaded inside to Marmion who had the pace to score the five points and become the club’s record Champions Cup try-scorer. He was also a vital factor in Grondona\u2019s try, giving the ball to Harding to break the line. A clever chip kick then set up Janse van Rensburg’s score as well as the assists kept flowing. Marmion controlled the game expertly and is such a key factor to this Bears squad, especially while Harry Randall is out injured.<\/p>\n1. Ellis Genge – 8<\/strong><\/p>\nGenge scored in the first minute with a trademark bruising carry, crossing the line with defenders bouncing off him. This really set the tempo for Bristol\u2019s game. Genge was great at scrum time and solid defensively throughout.<\/p>\n
2. Gabriel Oghre – 7<\/strong><\/p>\nOghre was good around the park today, making a fierce chop tackle in his own 22 to force a knock on from Pau and regain possession, a real statement of intent from the hooker early doors. He scored a trademark try at the back of a strong Bristol driving maul, making the score 33-0 at the end of the first half.<\/p>\n
3. Lovejoy Chawatama – 7<\/strong><\/p>\nHad a great chance to score in the opening stages of the second half, Chawatama was millimetres away from scoring, but fumbled it forward as he reached out for the line. The prop was good at scrum-time and had the beating of opposite man Daniel Bibi Biziwu.<\/p>\n
4. Pedro Rubiolo – 7<\/strong><\/p>\nRubiolo was keen to get off the line early in Defence, making good tackles behind Pau\u2019s gain line. He got through lots of the dirty work, as he often does for the Bears.<\/p>\n
5. Joe Batley – 7<\/strong><\/p>\nOften displayed slick handling skills, pulling the ball behind him to a back looping around, allowing the Bears back-line to prove their threat. He was close to the line with a pick and go, but an extra roll meant he was held up, and Pau could exit. Batley scored Bristol\u2019s 7th as he charged into the corner due to some fine build-up play from the backs.<\/p>\n
6. Joe Owen – 8<\/strong><\/p>\nMade a crucial tackle on Thomas Carol in the first half, not letting the winger around his outside and then crunching him as he stepped inside. Owen was phenomenal in the air at the lineout, often disrupting defensive lineouts and winning the ball back. A true athlete.<\/p>\n
7. Benjamin Grondona – 9<\/strong><\/p>\nA great support line from Grondona saw him dot down for the Bears\u2019 second of the game, as he received the ball from captain Harding, who initially broke the defensive line. For the third try, Grondona was the playmaker, picking the perfect line off Janse Van Rensburg, and then offloading to Marmion to go under the sticks. Grondona was often at the breakdown or in support of attacking play. A classy coming-of-age performance.<\/p>\n
8. Fitz Harding – 7<\/strong><\/p>\nHarding made Bears\u2019 second try as he broke straight through the Pau defensive line, creating a simple 2 on 1, which he executed perfectly to see Grondona fly over the line. Got penalised early on for playing the nine, allowing Pau to kick to the corner in a threatening position. He got penalised 10 minutes after for an offside at the breakdown. Overall, a reliable performance from Harding as he went off early in the second half with next weekend’s game against Harlequins in mind.<\/p>\n
Replacements<\/strong><\/p>\n16. Harry Thacker – 7<\/strong><\/p>\n17. Jake Woolmore – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n18. Jimmy Halliwell – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n19. Santiago Grondona – 8<\/strong><\/p>\nBrother of Benjamin, Santiago Grondona wanted to get in on the try scoring fun and managed to score in the 59th minute. A loose ball which popped out of the ruck found its way into Grondona\u2019s hands and he barrelled over the whitewash from there.<\/p>\n
20. Luka Ivanishvili – 7<\/strong><\/p>\n21. Sam Wolstenholme – 7<\/strong><\/p>\nAssisted Boshoff\u2019s try as he picked the right pass to allow his winger to go careering over the try line.<\/p>\n
22. Sam Worsley – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n23. Josh Carrington – 7<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol Bears beat Pau 61-12 at Ashton Gate on Sunday in Round Two of the 2025\/26 Investec Champions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,21571,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-633772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-bears","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115723241992456352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_RB1_0980.jpg\")
Bristol Bears\u2019 Kieran Marmion scores his side\u2019s third try of the game against Pau. (Photo: INPHO\/Ryan Byrne\/EPCR)<\/p>\n