Anything illegal here?

By Ian Todd
September 2 2012

Bristol's undefeated home run came to an end against recently relegated Newcastle. In a performance that had many good points, the old favourite of poor tactical kicking returned once more. Also back was the frustrating habit of giving away cheap points immediately after having scored. On the positive side though, the scrum looked more than comfortable although the lineout was a bit of a mess. All in all a reasonable performance to build upon and with ball in hand we do look to have the players to cause other sides problems

Bristol kicked off in overcast but warm conditions and followed up well, sowing some early confusion in the Newcastle ranks.  Bristol continued to harry Newcastle as they attempted to make ground, but were penalised to let Gopperth kick to half way.  Bristol turned over Newcastle possession, only to kick valuable ball away.  However, the visitors coughed up possession again and a nice break from Jack Gadd got his side going forward.  Newcastle were penalised for offside to give everyone a chance to catch their breath after a helter-skelter first five minutes.  Tristan Roberts stepped up to score Bristol’s first points of the season.

The traditional give-away-a-penalty-immediately-after-scoring fairy now sprinkled some dust and Gopperth equalised virtually from the restart.   Play continued at a high intensity and Newcastle took advantage of Bristol handling errors to work their way into good field position.  An obvious knock-on was missed by the officials as the visitors rumbled forwards, but Bristol forced another turnover and managed to clear outside the 22.  Newcastle attacked from good lineout ball and a forward pass  allowed Tu’ipulotu the space to slice over for the opening try.  Gopperth was surprisingly wide of the mark, but Newcastle were 3 – 5 in front.

Newcastle were called back for a forward pass as the referee finally listened to the advice from the crowd, but sadly it was in their half and not for the earlier try.  They were then penalised at the resulting scrum, but this time it was Roberts’ turn to miss the posts.  Bristol were not to be denied for long when a bustling Mike Tagicakibau (watched by his brother) sucked in defenders out on the left wing and then the ball was swept across the field, endingup in the hands of Ryan Edwards for a nicely worked converted try.

Bristol were looking really fired up at this point and Newcastle gave away a penalty following more pressure.  Roberts made a conservative touch and the drive from the lineout failed to make much progress but Newcastle gave away a silly penalty to let Roberts extend the lead to 13 – 8.  And what do you know?  The penalty fairy immediately came back and allowed Gopperth to wipe out the brief advantage.

Jon Goodridge fielded a long Newcastle kick excellently only to take far too long over his return and was charged down.  Bristol were let off the hook when Newcastle promptly knocked-on.   Sadly another charge down then put the hosts back under pressure and Newcastle were awarded a penalty to edge in front.  Worse was to come when a lovely passing move from Newcastle culminated in Fielden sprinting in untouched out left for a converted try and 13 – 21.

Newcastle seemed to be getting on top but a penalty for pulling down at the lineout (which, frankly, happened all afternoon) allowed Bristol to kick to touch.  The lineout was a total mess and Bristol were lucky to be awarded a penalty to allow Roberts to take play back into the Newcastle half.  Not for long though.  Newcastle launched a dangerous long-range attack which looked destined to result in a try, only for Tu’ipulotu , under little pressure, to pass straight into touch.  Another charge down by Newcastle put Bristol back under pressure in the dying seconds but once again knocked on.

Newcastle started the second half in positive vein and Bristol gave away a penalty.  Gopperth went for touch and Newcastle drove from the lineout.  Bristol defended stoutly but were penalised again and this time the Newcastle outside-half made no mistake with his kick at the posts.  A poor Bristol lineout presented Newcastle with easy ball and Fielden was released into oceans of space by a well taken grubber into the right hand corner.  He outpaced the defence for an unconverted try but a 13- 29 scoreline.

Bristol looked rattled and errors crept into their game as they tried to hit back.  The previously dominant scrum creaked a bit and a penalty allowed Gopperth to nudge his team further ahead.  Bristol were stung into action and at last managed to string together some coherent phases of play.  Newcastle conceded a penalty and Roberts booted Bristol down to the five metre line.  The throw was hopelessly long and Newcastle looked set to take full advantage only to be halted by a clumsy accidental offside (not the first, but the first the referee saw).  The Bristol scrum looked to regained its composure and Newcastle collapsed.  Interestingly the decision was to scrum again.  Newcastle’s pack remained under pressure and Roberts was able to dart into space and shift the ball on to the supporting Luke Eves who crashed over for a try that was well converted by Roberts to bring Bristol closer at 20 – 32.

And guess what happened then?  Yes, you are right.  Bristol gave away another penalty (after a very long advantage it must be said).  The visitors went for touch but now it was their turn to make a mess of the lineout and Bristol claimed the ball.  At this stage neither side looked at all comfortable with both making ham-fisted errors at crucial times.  Finally a rather fortunate penalty to Bristol allowed them into the Newcastle 22, but again the lineout malfunctioned.  At last Newcastle managed to regain some control and held on to the ball.  Tackle after tackle rained in as Bristol tried to repel the attack, but the visitors remained patient and were rewarded when the defence cracked to allow Hogg to touch down with just minutes left.  There was still time for a last ditch Bristol attack, set in motion by some quick thinking from Ruki Tipuna but a knock on brought things to a close at 20 – 37.