If it felt like Bristol had seriously lost their mojo in the second half at the Brentford Community Stadium, then they appeared to find it again in the first at Ashton Gate on Saturday. Setting about the game with adventure, ambition and alacrity it seemed like the players were on a rapid quest for the holy grail of total rugby but unfortunately for every scintillating line break, outrageous offload and decisive carry, there was a subsequent knock on, penalty, or overthrow which meant that the scoreboard operator remained underemployed. Another break. Another mistake. Despite having the lion’s share of the possession against a pack of Tigers, they struggled to convert pressure into points.
So, whether it was the Bears’ over-elaboration or the Tigers’ big game defence that muddied the waters, it took a whole 34 minutes for Bristol to finally get their mojo working with a trademark try from a rolling maul. But when Piers O’Conor dabbed down again soon after from a filthy set piece move, it felt like the Brentford blues had finally been vanquished. The assumption was that the floodgates would open, a tsunami of Bristol points would wash away the Leicester challenge and balance would be returned to the force.
However, just like in the previous game, Bristol only managed to score three more points in a disjointed and unsatisfactory second period. Worse still, this was the fourth game in a fallow February where a Bristol second half was try less despite a lot of try hard. If the first forty had been a glossy brochure advertising a swanky new hotel, the second was akin to arriving at the location, finding it half built and then having to walk miles to the nearest beach. To put it another way, Bristol ended up having to play survivor in the eye of an improved Tiger effort and in a time of heightened expectations for the Bristol faithful, it was another example of when the subs seldom shone and the system stayed out of sorts. If it felt like a bonus point was begging but the Bears had simply walked on by.
I blame Christophe Ridley. Don’t get me wrong, I respect his ability, but with the face of a choirboy and the guns of a gym monkey, he just looks out of place. It unsettled me all game and maybe it had the same effect on some of the players. There was one shot when he was head to head with Ioan Lloyd and for a split second I thought I was watching a promo video for Clifton College Sixth form rather than a top-level rugby clash. It obviously spooked Andy Uren, because he spent most of the game running away from him sideways and as for his interactions with Steve Luatua, it wasn’t clear who was supposed to call who, ‘sir’.
Despite all this, there were, however, some good Bristol performances. The back three were electric, the makeshift centre combo coherent and the back row dynamic despite a slightly over average penalty count. But perhaps the real man of the match for the home team was Max Lahiff on comms with BT Sport. Showing a healthy bias towards his peers, which no doubt irritated viewers from the East Midlands, he was verbal comedy gold. Describing himself in relation to the stamina levels of team-mate Piers O’Conor as ‘an asthmatic ant carrying a heavy shopping bag’ was pure genius and his hollow laugh when asked whether Pat ever got angry at half time spoke volumes, describing him as tempestuous, but ‘in a good way.’ He also seemed relaxed about revealing various system secrets, probably safe in the knowledge that it was impossible to record the match on the red button, and happily reported that he was a week away from full fitness. This will have been music to the ears of the scrum nuts in the fanhood who have been fretting about the lack of cover at tighthead since Sinckler joined England, Chapparo got injured and Afoa can’t last more than 45 minutes without needing to refuel from a jar of peanut butter. If you don’t know what I am talking about then have a listen to this interview last week on The Scrum where much to Geoff Twentyman’s disbelief, big John revealed that he was a smooth rather than chunky man. I love him to bits, but really? For a filthy rig like that, anything less than full nut is unacceptable.
But herein lies the answer to Bristol’s recent patchy performances. Missing key men in key positions such as the front row and half back can make a big difference across a whole game and with seventeen players unavailable the squad has been squeezed so hard it’s starting to squeak. Moreover, whilst the Tigers team on paper was so experimental that it had to be peer reviewed before it was published, their young cubs and grizzly subs proved that there are still no easy games in the Premiership.
So rather than fretting furiously about the second half slowdowns we should really be pinching ourselves proudly about the fact that half way through our third season back in the Premiership we are top of the log, six points clear, and only going to get stronger as top players return from international duty and the physio’s couch. And with Worcester appearing to be more like Worriers than Warriors, given their lowly league position, perhaps Saturday will afford the players an opportunity to get a smile back on post-match Pat’s face by actually scoring a try after his half time team talk and delivering a resounding victory.
If you want to hear more irreverent and sometimes insightful comment on the game then click here for the latest episode of the Bears Beyond The Gate podcast.
Filthy Rig 