Wales fly-half saves Bristol Bears’ blushes after letting a 23-point lead slip

Wales fly-half Callum Sheedy nailed a clutch drop goal in the 84th minute of a thrilling Champions Cup match as Bristol Bears defeated Lyon 36-34.

Lyon centre Alfred Parisien looked to have won the match for his side with a sensational solo try, with Alexandre Tchaptchet’s conversion edging his side into a 33-34 lead – having trailed 33-10 after 53 minutes – with three minutes left to play.

However, Bristol Bears refused to be beaten as they worked their way back upfield and with four minutes into stoppage time, Sheedy dropped into the pocket and slotted the match-winning drop goal.

That kick capped off a thrilling 11-try Champions Cup encounter. Richard Lane, Steven Luatua, Harry Thacker, Harry Randall, and Gabriel Oghre all dotted down for the hosts, with Sheedy adding four conversions.

Lyon‘s five tries came through winger Ethan Dumortier, flanker Marvin Okuya, fullback Thaakir Abrahams (2), centre Semi Radradra and Parisein.

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Gabriel Ibitoye got the Bears up and running after sending Fitz Harding through a gap. The winger popped up again later in the attack, slipping through Radradra’s attempted tackle before delivering a wonderful basketball-esque pass to Lane, who had a clear run over the line. Sheedy was able to convert from out wide to put the Bears 7-0 up.

Lyon were quick to respond as Ethan Dumortier found a way over the line just two minutes later and while scrum-half Martin Page-Relo was unable to convert to level the scores, the visitors went into the lead moments later.

Page-Relo made a superb break around the ruck when he threw a dummy and raced through. The Italian scrum-half then threw a stellar long pass out to Dumortier, who passed inside to his onrushing blindside flanker Okuya, who rounded off the score. Again, Page-Relo was unsuccessful with the conversion and a penalty soon afterwards.

Those misses gave Bristol a route back into the match, which they capitalised on as Luatua and Thack scored in quick succession to go into an 11-point lead, which they maintained until the break to lead 28-10.

Into the second half and Lyon were put even further onto the backfoot when Alban Roussel was sent to the sin bin, and Bristol immediately capitalised as Randall snuck over the line from close range for the bonus point score.

Oghre’s score on 53 minutes opened up Bristol’s lead to 23 points as they looked set to coast to victory, but Lyon – who had made 13 changes to their starting XV for the match – were determined to fight back.

Thaakir Abrahams grabbed his first try of the match just before the hour mark before Bristol replacement Kalaveti Ravouvou was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle. Ravouvou’s Fiji teammate Radradra punished his former employers when he snuck through the defence from the base of the ruck and was met with boos from the Bristol fans as he dotted down under the posts.

The most unpopular try Semi Radradra has scored at Ashton Gate 😅#InvestecChampionsCuppic.twitter.com/Uj6mUZ0Ryr

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) December 9, 2023

Page-Relo managed to convert Radradra’s score but was again off target when Abrahams scored his second, rounding off a superb score when Monty Ioane shrugged off a tackle and burst downfield.

His try closed the gap to just six points and gave Lyon a shot at stealing the win, which they had seemingly taken when Parisien dotted down but Sheedy rose to the challenge to secure the victory for the Bears.

Bristol head to Bordeaux next weekend while Lyon are in action at home hosting the Bulls.

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