Bristol edge Gloucester while Sale slip up against Bath

Adam Kyriacou
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Santiago Carreras scored two superb first-half tries but it was not enough to earn bottom club Gloucester victory over injury-ravaged Premiership leaders Bristol, who snatched an 18-17 win at Kingsholm.

Ioan Lloyd’s penalty five minutes from time ensured the Bears remained at the summit, with Gloucester’s losing bonus-point insufficient to lift them off the foot of the table.

Ollie Thorley scored Gloucester’s third try, while Billy Twelvetrees kicked a conversion. Bristol’s tries came from Bryan Byrne and Jake Heenan, with Lloyd adding two penalties and a conversion.

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Bristol began brightly and took a fifth-minute lead when Byrne finished off a driving line-out for his fourth try in the last three matches.

However, three minutes later, Byrne was forced to withdraw with a leg injury and he was replaced by Will Capon. Worse was to follow for the Bears when former Gloucester wing Henry Purdy limped off, with Alapati Leiua coming onto the field.

The visitors then suffered a further setback when Carreras intercepted a pass from Piers O’Conor to run 85 metres and score under the posts.

Twelvetrees converted before both sides had injury problems, with Gloucester losing lock Matias Alemanno and Bristol their loose-head prop Nahuel Chaparro.

After 26 minutes, Carreras scored his second try when he intercepted a wayward pass from Siale Piutau and the wing had enough pace to hold off the cover defence on a 50-metre run to the line.

Bristol had endured a rough half-hour but they responded in style when Dave Attwood made a strong burst to send Heenan over, with Lloyd’s conversion bringing the sides level at 12-12 at half-time.

Gloucester changed their whole front row at the interval and the hosts began to gain the ascendancy at the set-piece as the Bears conceded a couple of scrum penalties.

From one of these close to the visitors’ line, Willi Heinz took a quick tap before a well-judged pass from Mark Atkinson sent Thorley over in the corner.

Twelvetrees missed the conversion before Lloyd kicked a penalty to leave Bristol trailing by two points at the end of the third quarter.

Bristol’s injury nightmare did not relent as number eight Nathan Hughes became their fourth departure of the night when he hobbled off, but Lloyd held his nerve to fire over a 45-metre penalty to secure the West Country derby win.

Elsewhere, Bath eased the pressure on director of rugby Stuart Hooper as they ended a run of six successive defeats with a 27-22 win over Sale at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Tries from Tom De Glanville, Tom Dunn and Josh Bayliss as well as 12 points from the boot of Rhys Priestland guided Bath to a victory that saw them pull six points clear of Worcester and Gloucester at the foot of the Premiership table.

Captain Jono Ross, Dan du Preez and Cameron Neild touched down for Sale with Rob du Preez kicking a conversion and penalty and AJ MacGinty added a late conversion.

Alex Sanderson made 10 changes to the side that beat leaders Bristol as he suffered defeat in his first home game as Sale’s director of rugby.

Scotland international Byron McGuigan and youngsters Conor Doherty and Tom Roebuck were amongst the players coming into the XV.

By contrast, Bath made just two changes, with captain Josh McNally back from injury and Will Muir making his debut.

The visitors had the best possible start as they opened the scoring within two minutes through De Glanville, who broke through the Sale defence with ease in the far-right corner for a try converted by Rhys Priestland.

The Sharks got back into the game midway through the first half, with a close-range penalty from Rob du Preez.

Moments later, however, Bath restored their seven-point advantage when Priestland slotted a straightforward penalty of his own.

Sale’s first try of the game in the 27th minute took persistence, with Bath’s defence remaining resolute, but the hosts’ patience paid off with Ross touching down and Rob du Preez converting to level the scores.

Bath hit back

The sides were not equal for long, however, as Bath hit back and following an opening on the right-hand side, hooker Dunn crashed over under the posts to put the visitors back in front.

Two minutes before the end of the half, Sale won a line-out in a threatening position and a scrum soon followed but the visitors won it to prevent the Sharks closing the gap before the break.

There was still time for a further twist before half time as Sale lost the ball in a crucial position, enabling Bayliss to break away and score a try converted by Priestland to give the visitors a 24-10 lead at the interval.

The hosts came straight out of the blocks in the second half, which was just four minutes old when they reduced the deficit.

Following a sequence of impressive off-loads, the hosts earned a penalty just in front of the line and Dan du Preez took the ball over the line – his brother Rob was unsuccessful with the conversion attempt.

In the 57th minute, Bath were awarded a penalty due to a Sale player being in an offside position and it was duly converted by Priestland to extend the visitors’ advantage to 12 points.

The Sharks thought they’d reduced the deficit in the 76th minute when Dan du Preez crossed but the TMO overturned the decision for a forward pass in the build-up.

Sale did manage to pick up a losing bonus-point with the last action of the game courtesy of a converted try from replacement Neild.

 

Bath