Gloucester v Bristol Bears: Five takeaways as Cherry and Whites’ hat-trick hero potentially solves England’s ‘problem area’ in ‘feast of running rugby’
Gloucester's Seb Atkinson and Christian Wade, who both scored hat-tricks against Bristol Bears.
Following a 53-28 victory for Gloucester over Bristol Bears, here are our five takeaways from the Premiership encounter at Kingsholm on Saturday.
The top line
Gloucester took the West Country derby spoils as superb hat-tricks from Christian Wade and Seb Atkinson took them to a dominant victory over fellow play-off chasers Bristol Bears.
It was an entertaining affair where these two free-spirited sides put on a spectacle of running rugby, but it was the hosts who were by far the more effective. They raced into a 24-0 lead after tries from Wade, Josh Hathaway, Atkinson and Chris Harris.
Although Bristol then threatened a comeback, with Fitz Harding, James Williams and Max Lahiff all going over before the interval, Wade’s score on the stroke of half-time proved crucial. Adding to Atkinson’s second on the half-hour mark, the Cherry and Whites moved into a 34-21 lead at the break.
And when a rampant Gloucester outfit touched down three times in the space of 11 minutes, with Atkinson and Wade both completing hat-tricks, it was game over. Williams did secure his brace late on for the Bears, but it was a chastening day for the Premiership‘s second-placed side.
Feast of running rugby
Considering how these teams like to play it was no surprise that there were tries aplenty, with both sides looking to shift the ball wide with regularity. It was certainly Gloucester who did that the better, though, particularly in the opening 20 minutes, with their backline absolutely shredding the Bears’ defence.
Santi Carreras was sublime while Charlie Atkinson, Tomos Williams, Harris, Hathaway and Wade also had brilliant moments, but no doubt the star of the show was Seb Atkinson.
The Cherry and Whites were just incredibly slick, and they had the bonus-point secured by the 19th minute before Bristol mounted a comeback of sorts. There were 55 points scored in the first half, but there was only one team getting themselves on the board at the start of the second period as the hosts duly dominated. It was another fun game which showcased much that is good about the Premiership nowadays, but it also exposed some weaknesses.
Defence wins championships?
As the saying goes, but not if these two are anything to go by. Bristol especially live and die by the sword of their distinctive game plan, but Gloucester showed what can happen if they don’t get it right. The Bears looked threatening at times and it led to some fine tries, but they were far too soft without the ball, and that is ultimately the concern when it gets to the crunch time of the season.
Bristol’s play-off prospects have not been dented too much by this defeat but, even if they do make the end-of-the-season shake-up, then you question their ability to be resilient enough against the better teams. Harlequins famously won the Premiership in 2021 without really having a defence, but they still had some absolute units up front and a scrum which was among the best, thanks to the presence of Joe Marler and Wilco Louw.
If you were to back one of these sides to be a greater threat for the title at the moment, it would easily be the Cherry and Whites. Despite their willingness to move the ball, they still place a significant emphasis on the fundamentals and have some real mongrels up front in the likes of Lewis Ludlow, Ruan Ackermann, Freddie Clarke and Val Rapava-Ruskin.
England centres
It has been a problem area for some time for the Red Rose, but Seb Atkinson is showing that it might not be such of an issue going forward. With Max Ojomoh ā the Bath playmaker ā continuing to impress at the Rec, Steve Borthwick may have a couple more options who could feature alongside Ollie Lawrence when the outside centre is back fit.
Fraser Dingwall took the 12 shirt when Henry Slade was dropped and, while not being the greatest athlete, his ability to knit together the backline and be effective on both sides of the ball cannot be overstated, but there is no doubt that Ojomoh and Atkinson offer much more running threat.
The Gloucester man was utterly outstanding on Saturday. Atkinson is a physical presence, which Borthwick will no doubt love, but he also has a delightful skill set and his vast array of talents were on full show at Kingsholm. The midfield maestro certainly deserves to go on the tour to Argentina in July.
Fasogbon v Genge round two
In the reverse fixture, these two famously had quite the battle as the young pretender gave as good as he got against the established Test star. The highly rated Afolabi Fasogbon impressed in the set-piece and with his work ethic around the field.
At Ashton Gate, it resulted in the 20-year-old giving Genge a cheeky send-off, but it all ended amicably as they shared a hug after the match. Still, the Bristol man no doubt wanted to get his own back, but once again, it concluded with his opponent having the last laugh ā or in this case, smile.
There were not too many scrums in the game, but there was one small scuffle where the two squared up. However, the highlight for Fasogbon no doubt came when Genge was replaced and copped it from the Cherry and White faithful. To his credit, the Red Rose loosehead took it in good spirit while his tighthead opponent also had a wide grin on his face in what was another great moment between these talented props.
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