Bristol claim the lineout

By Ian Todd
January 29 2012

Bristol racked up a bonus point home victory against Rotherham. The five tries were the culmination of excellent teamwork. However, some of the other play had a curiously lacklustre quality, with Bristol perfectly comfortable against limited, but game opposition. In patches Bristol performed well and showed hints of how good find here house is built into into keys they can be.  The feeling is that they are capable of performing and sustaining a higher  level of intensity.  If, or when, they do some teams will find it hard to live with them  Hopefully they can achieve this in the impending play-offs.

Bristol kicked off in grey and chilly conditions. Although the Rotherham seven took the ball well, sloppy play and allowed Bristol to put the visitors under pressure. Hurried clearance kick went only as far as Jack Tovey, who ran powerfully back into the Rotherham half. Bristol went through several phases and Ross Johnston sprinted downfield all the ball was worked back left. A grubber kick was dotted down by Rotherham 22 dropout as the attack petered out. Rotherham were penalised and Bristol kicked to touch. A good drive from the lineout was held up about 5 m out. The ball went out to Will Helu who powered through some weak tackling to score out wide on the left.  Tristan Roberts conversion attempt struck the post to leave Bristol five points to the good.

Bristol claimed the ball of the Rotherham lineout succession of errors combined to give Bristol a scrum just inside Rotherham half. Ruki Tipuna broke quickly from the base of the scrum and darted into the Rotherham 22, only to knock-on in the tackle. However, the Rotherham scrum was in real difficulty and all they managed to achieve was a sliced kick that gave Bristol 5 metre lineout. Unfortunately Bristol then promptly knocked on possession. Bristol drove well at the consequence scrum as Rotherham continued to struggle. Amazingly referee then gave a penalty to Rotherham. Rotherham persisted in the kicking away what little ball they managed to win. Tovey again got into the action claiming the ball from a loose Rotherham kick. Bristol however failed to capitalise.

The majority of possession still with the home side and they kept up the pressure on Rotherham. A nice floated pass released Josh Ovens for a dangerous run, carried on by Fautua Otto who was hauled down just 5 metres out. Rotherham managed to scramble the ball into touch and regained possession from another poor Bristol lineout. Once more they kicked this hard-won possession away and Bristol launched a marvellous flowing move which looked certain to end in a try, only for the final pass landed neatly in Rotherham hands. Another Rotherham kick for territory was fielded by Jon Goodridge who attempted to run it back but knocked on as he attempted to off load. This was but the prelude to an excellent passage of play. George Watkins round of direct powerfully, his pass was well taken in midfield and the ball was shifted quickly out to Tovey. The winger seared through the defence but was tackled just short of the line. Otto though was on hand to pick up and plunge over for an unconverted try but 10-nil lead. Roberts edged his side further in front with a well struck penalty at the close of the half.

The visitors made the early running in the second half and finally got on the scoreboard when Bristol were harshly penalised. Bristol were unable to match the intensity they had sustained towards the close of the first half. Their only reward continued domination was another Roberts penalty. At last Bristol managed to string together more incisive play. James Merriman finish off a clinical move by touching down by the posts for a converted try that took Bristol into a 23-3 lead.

The pack then went on to give a masterclass in the art of driving from the lineout. They controlled the drive shifting the direction of the thrust from side to side totally disrupting the Rotherham defence and Johnston was the grateful recipient of the try scoring plaudits. The conversion of this bonus point try move Bristol into a comfortable and deserved lead of 30-3. Tovey capped an excellent all-round performance with a well taken try down the right hand corner. Matty James, who had just come onto the field, made light work tricky conversion to leave the final score at 33-3. There was still time for Bristol to have to put in some hard work when Rotherham strove desperately for a consolation score at the very close. They were equal to the task, despite a hand in the scrum being missed by the officials, the game ended with the ball kicked from the field.