Bristol Bears regain top spot with fine comeback win over Northampton Saints
Bristol Bears regained top spot with a win over Northampton Saints
Bristol Bears lept back to the top of the Premiership table with a fantastic 31-23 win over reigning champions Northampton Saints at Ashton Gate.
A brace from Kalaveti Ravouvou, alongside other scores from Gabriel Ibitoye and Joe Batley, helped the Bears recover from a 15-point deficit after 20 minutes.
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Bristol, who were minus England pair Harry Randall and Ellis Genge, struggled to find their trademark fluency initially, and Makepeace-Cubitt kicked Saints ahead through a 14th-minute penalty.
Flanker Steven Luatua went close to a Bristol try from the restart, but Saints responded impressively and a slick attack ended with Hendy finishing superbly before Makepeace-Cubitt’s conversion made it 10-0.
Bristol, hampered by uncharacteristic errors, fell further behind just two minutes later following a powerful surge from flanker Tom Pearson, who sent an unmarked Kemeny over to leave the home side in considerable strife.
The hosts needed a response as Northampton continued to threaten, and it arrived 10 minutes before half-time after impressive build-up play created an overlap that Ibitoye easily exploited.
MacGinty converted from the touchline, and Bristol were at it again just three minutes later, cutting open Northampton’s defence as Ravouvou sprinted through a huge gap. MacGinty’s conversion made it 15-14.
Northampton then had the final say during an entertaining first 40 minutes when Makepeace-Cubitt kicked a penalty that secured a four-point interval advantage.
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Both sides had scoring chances in the third quarter but Bristol had a prominent attacking force in Luatua, whose strong running built foundations for a third try.
The Northampton defence struggled to hold him, and Ravouvou applied a close-range finish for his second touchdown, with MacGinty’s conversion making it 21-18.
The fly-half kicked a penalty 13 minutes from time that gave Bristol a small degree of breathing space, and there was no way back for Saints when a high-class attack that heavily involved Ibitoye was rounded off by Batley.
Northampton went in pursuit of a losing bonus point as the clock ticked down – one that their overall performance deserved – yet it eluded them in agonising fashion.
Ramm touched down for Saints’ third try in the final minute, but Makepeace-Cubitt’s touchline conversion attempt hit the post, meaning an eight-point margin of defeat and no bonus.
Teams
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Fitz Harding (c), 7 Benjamin Grondona, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 George Kloska, 19 Joe Owen, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Sam Worsley, 23 Benjamin Elizalde
Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 James Ramm, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 George Makepeace-Cubitt, 9 Tom James, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Alex Coles (c), 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Luke Green, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Jake Garside
Venue: Ashton Gate
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Harry Walbaum
TMO: Andrew Jackson