Bristol climbed off the foot of the table with a dogged victory over Harlequins, owing much to Gabriel Ibitoye’s moment of magic against his former club, plenty to their hosts’ litany of wasted chances and everything to one of the best tap tackles you are ever likely to see.
Harlequins were utterly dominant in the second half in terms of territory and possession but could not find their cutting edge. The weather was not helping but Bristol weathered the storm until André Esterhuizen appeared to be in the clear and certain to score with about a minute to go. AJ MacGinty had other ideas, however, and clipped his heels at full stretch, forcing the Springbok to stumble and allowing Tom Whiteley to force the ball from his grasp just before his momentum took him over the line. When things like that go against you, suffice it to say it is not your day. For Bristol, call it revenge for that semi-final defeat of 2021 from which they have never really recovered.
Earlier Ibitoye had put Bristol ahead with a fine finish, continuing his impressive form of late having overcome his injury problems when first arriving in the west country. It came in the first half – Bristol, playing into the wind and driving rain, did not score a point in the second half and never looked likely to – but such was Harlequins’s profligacy it did not matter. It would be easy to say Harlequins would not have been quite so error prone on the more manicured lawn of Twickenham – where this match was supposed to be taking place – but that is no excuse and does Bristol a disservice. They had not won in the league since September and when on runs like that, wins like this are harder to come by.
They took a well-deserved 10-point lead with them into the interval after an ill-tempered first half in which Harlequins threatened only when Esterhuizen was able to make a dent in the visitors’ defence. They lost Ellis Genge before kick-off – the England prop absent to attend the birth of his second child – but began like a team desperate to climb off the foot of the table.
Hooker Amy Cokayne scored a hat-trick in Harlequins eight-try rout of Bristol Bears in the first match of Tuesday's double-header. The hosts, who raced into a 29-0 lead at half-time, ran out 48-14 winners at the Stoop, in a match refereed by Wayne Barnes, overseeing a Premier 15s game for the first time. Bristol Bears did get on the scoreboard in the second half, thanks to tries from Lark Davies and Grace White but the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for the retiring Quins prop, Shaunagh Brown, who was given a standing ovation as she left the field in her final game on 76 minutes. Guardian sport
Harlequins were not helped when Will Evans, who has had plenty of injury problems of late, was replaced after less than a minute following a hefty collision with Semi Radradra and soon after, MacGinty kicked the opening penalty. A driving maul, finished by Harry Thacker after the Bristol hooker had won a penalty on halfway, extended the advantage.
Harlequins clicked into gear thereafter and after countless phases and with Esterhuizen prominent, Josh Bassett finished well in the left-hand corner to continue his impressive start to life after Wasps. Tommy Allan missed the conversion and then Joe Marchant had a try ruled out after doing all the hard work with Danny Care’s speculative kick, with Harlequins playing advantage, but failing to ground the ball after climbing high to gather.
Things turned nasty when Joe Marler appeared to bait Jake Heenan into a reaction at a scrum a few minutes before Harlequins had a penalty turned over when Care got too hot under the collar. Bristol took full advantage by working the ball wide to Ibitoye, who had the space to cut in from the left and finish off a fine try.
Harlequins, with the wind at their backs, were on top at the start of the second half but Care was denied a fine score – again after countless phases – for just going into touch on the left. They continued to press and, despite coughing up a slippery ball when well placed on more than one occasion, it was Care who set up their second try on the hour mark, kicking across field to Cadan Murley.
Bristol held firm – with the help of some poor Harlequins handling – until six minutes to go but Allan chose to kick a penalty for the corner rather than go for the three points which would have levelled the scores. Another knock-on left victory in sight for the visitors. That was until the referee Karl Dickson spotted an infringement and sent Ibitoye to the sin bin for a high tackle on Esterhuizen. The lineout went awry, however, and with the one last chance that Harlequins had, MacGinty and Whiteley combined to deny them.
