In the end Bristol had too much. A display of equal parts grit and skill by Newcastle threatened a huge festive upset in the freezing-cold south-west, but two tries by the elusive Louis Rees-Zammit and some classically fluent attacking by Pat Lam’s buoyant team eventually enabled them to overpower their spirited visitors.
After the Bears ruined Harlequins’ Christmas at Twickenham last Saturday, sticking 40 points on the London club in Big Game 17, they were widely expected to ease to victory against the Prem’s bottom side, who were yet to muster a bonus point after seven matches. The question seemed to be not if Bristol would win, rather by how many.
But the work Newcastle are doing under the head coach, Alan Dickens, now assisted by the former Wales international Stephen Jones, is beginning to bear fruit. They are on the board with an attacking bonus point for scoring four well-worked tries, including a double for the dangerous Oli Spencer. Bristol eventually scored six in response but were made to work much harder than last week at Twickenham.
Newcastle were impressive in every facet of the game, particularly in the first half, with Murray McCallum crashing over to open the scoring on seven minutes. Spencer’s sensational diving score in the corner, evading the attention of Kalaveti Ravouvou, made it 10-0 and an industrious start by Dickens’ side dampened the home fans’ festive spirits.
Mark McCall hailed Tomos Williams as a “great, great player” after the Wales international underlined the quality that Saracens can expect by shining for Gloucester in a 30-21 Prem defeat against McCall’s team at Kingsholm. The 30-year-old British and Irish Lion created two of Gloucester’s three tries and was a constant threat in a first appearance since Saracens announced their high-profile signing on Christmas Day.
“He is a great, great player,” the Saracens rugby director said. “He didn’t really have the best platform today, but everyone can see his quality every time he attacks.”
Saracens ended a run of three-successive league defeats by seeing off Gloucester in bonus-point fashion. The flanker Theo McFarland inspired a first Prem win since mid-October by scoring two of his team’s four tries, while the hooker Theo Dan and the scrum-half Ivan van Zyl also crossed, with the fly-half Owen Farrell kicking two penalties and two conversions.
McCall said: “Overall, it was one of our better 80-minute performances. Today was good, but we have had inconsistent days. We could have beaten Bath and we could have beaten Exeter and been in a slightly different position to where we are. Today was important because have lost a few in a row and it was important to come down here and get a result.”
Gloucester had their moments – notably through first-half touchdowns for locks Freddie Thomas and Arthur Clark, plus a late Will Knight try – with Ross Byrne converting all three scores, but they ultimately slipped to a seventh loss from eight Prem games this season. To compound Gloucester’s frustration, they lost wing Ben Loader – a pre-season signing from the South African side the Stormers – after 15 minutes of his comeback game following injury.
Gloucester's rugby director, George Skivington, said: “I haven’t got an answer for why we keep losing a couple of players at the start of every game. It does create disruption. Ben has been out for months and he goes off in the first 15 minutes. It looked like his hamstring again. That is a guy we signed with high expectation and so far we’ve not managed to keep him on the field.”
On the game, Skivington added: “We are creating some pressure and some good line-breaks and then just not finishing them off. That is a sign of not quite connecting – we have not quite got the experience at the moment to get across the line.
“On the flipside, the boys stayed in the fight the whole game. They were desperate to try and get a losing bonus-point at the end and never threw the towel in." PA Media
After talk about excessive kicking it was pleasing to see Rees-Zammit, the Bears full-back, frequently sprinting from deep with ball in hand like a seasoned NFL running back. “I think full-back is his best position,” Lam said of Rees-Zammit. “You’ve got to be a great communicator, good under the high ball, you need pace – it suits our style completely for him to be at full-back. After his time in the NFL, he’s more powerful and I believe he has the ability to be a world-class full-back.”
Bristol – suddenly but briefly – began to hit the right notes in attack. Rees-Zammit ran through a yawning gap in Newcastle’s defence after 20 minutes, scoring Bristol’s first try, and then fed Matías Moroni, who arrowed over the line, before Tom Jordan’s conversion took Lam’s side into the lead.
No one had expected the Red Bulls to lead at half-time but Ollie Leatherbarrow’s muscular score after a fine strike move involving Elliott Obatoyinbo got them over the gain-line in the opposition 22, and it turned out to be a five-point lead at the break.
Brett Connon added a penalty for Newcastle soon after half-time, stretching the lead to eight, but Bristol soon tore down the right wing, offloading as they went, and Noah Heward finished off a slick score to reduce the deficit to three.
Newcastle had faded badly in the round-seven defeat by Bath but if Bristol hoped the same would happen here they were disappointed. Sammy Arnold burst through the defensive line with a driving midfield run in midfield and they had the numbers on the left for Spencer to score his second try.
Bristol Rees-Zammit; Heward (Ivanishvili 74), Moroni (Lane 63), Williams, Ravouvou; Jordan (Worsley 78), Randall (Wolstenholme 57); Lahiff (Genge 44), Thacker (Oghre 44), Chawatama (Halliwell 14 (28), 58), Taylor (Rubiolo 44), Batley, Owen, Harding (capt), Mata. Tries Rees-Zammit 2, Moroni, Heward, Ravouvou, Oghre. Cons Jordan 2, Williams. Sin-bin Ravouvou. Red card Batley.
Newcastle Grayson; Spencer, Hearle, Arnold (Hutchison 67), Obatoyinbo; Connon (Chamberlain 67), Benítez Cruz (Elliott 67); Brocklebank (Hancock 58), McGuigan (capt.) (Fletcher 54), McCallum (Palframan 54), Usher, De Chaves (Baker 67), Gordon (Mafi 58), Christie, Leatherbarrow. Tries McCallum, Spencer 2, Leatherbarrow. Cons Connon 2. Pen Connon.
Referee George Selwood. Attendance 23,003.
No sooner had Newcastle created a 10-point cushion than Ellis Genge – player of the match from the bench – was haring into their 22, creating field position for Ravouvou to cross on the left. The conversion was missed but it barely mattered: Rees-Zammit cut inside after a fizzing pass by Moroni, leaving Newcastle defenders for dead, and when Gabriel Oghre was shoved over and James Williams converted, it was a nine-point lead for Bristol.
The Bears’ lock Joe Batley was sent off with 14 minutes left for a brutal ruck clear-out and Ravouvou was sent to the sin-bin inside the final five minutes for a deliberate knock-on. Newcastle made it a nervous finish. A knock-on by Cameron Hutchison ended up costing them a fifth try and a losing bonus point – and even a late crack at victory. Two points would have been nice but even five would have been deserved.
“If that try had stood, we wanted to go for the win,” Dickens said. “It’s a place we like to come. The way Bristol play opens it all up, and I thought there were a lot of positives from our team today.”
