Mauling

By Ian Todd
April 2 2011

Bristol were well beaten by visitors London Welsh.  A disjointed performance from the hosts saw poor kicking and sloppy passing gift two interception and one charge-down tries to the visitors.  A penalty try just added insult to injury.  Watkins touched down twice for Bristol but overall it was a thoroughly disappointing evening for the Bristol supporters

Bristol kicked off and drove the receiver back but were able to make little initial impact on the visiting side.  An early kicking duel saw some aimless kicking from both teams, mercifully terminated when Jack Tovey decided to keep the ball in hand and made a nice little break.  A lineout came from a poor clearance from Ross but, in what was to prove a feature of the evening, the Bristol lineout was very rickety and was promptly followed by some more terrible kicking. 

Bristol's efforts to play positively were undone by unforced errors, but one knock-on resulted from a really obvious offside from Welsh.  The pack managed a rare strike against the head but the ball was swiftly kicked away to hand possession back to the exiles.   Welsh attacked but were penalised for holding on.  A long break in play for a nasty looking injury to Jamie Miller intervened before the kick could be taken.  Further indiscipline saw Welsh pushed further back but Bristol ball was terribly slow and Welsh forced a turnover.  Quick handling took them up to the five metre line before play switched back to the right wing and Gibson scooted over for an unconverted try. 

Energised by the try, Welsh looked eager to strike again and Bristol continued to kick the ball away.  Finally, Mark Davies' kick was charged down by Hills, who gathered and dashed in under the posts from a good 40 metres out.  Ross converted for a deserved 0 - 12 lead.  Bristol were struggling in the setpiece and a penalty let Welsh attack through several phases.  A fine tackle from Tovey halted won powerful move, but Welsh recycled the ball quickly to keep up the pressure.  A knock-on eventually allowed both teams a pause for breath after a sustained passage of play. 

Welsh continued to push Bristol back but Marco Mama had other ideas, seizing upon a casual pass he launched into a tremendous run down the left wing.  Tracked down by the defence he flung a pass out to the supporting George Watkins who cruised over and touched down behind the posts.  Davies converted and Bristol, rather against the run of things, were back in the game at 7 - 12.  Welsh tried to hit back quickly but were fortunate not to be picked up for failing to retreat hen Ross kicked into the Bristol 22.  Fortunately the defence was able to scramble back into position and Welsh were penalised for holding on.  As the half drew to its end, Bristol managed to string together some good attacking play, but it always looked too forced,  perhaps anxious.  Perhaps unsurprisingly this lead to a laboured pass from Sam Alford being intercepted at pace by Claassens who was able to go in beneath the posts despite a valiant chase from Watkins.  Ross's conversion took his team to a 7 - 19 lead at half time. 

Bristol attempted a positive start to the second period but were penalised for holding on.  Welsh went for the corner but good defence from Bristol forced a turnover.  A free kick at the scrum was wasted by a poor touch-finder that kept Welsh in the danger zone.   Welsh controlled play well and Bristol were penalised to allow Ross to move Welsh further in front.  Bristol finally managed dome clean lineout ball but the defence coped well and, devoid of ideas, Bristol kicked and the ball was marked.  Despite this Bristol continued to have a go and a quickly taken penalty saw Mark Irish dart into the 22, tackled before ten metres.  The attack off the resulting penalty failed to make any real progress and a muddle when the ball went wide saw the move break down and the ball hacked down the pitch into the Bristol half. 

Disaster struck again when another overly ambitious and poorly executed pass was intercepted by Ross who scythed over under the posts and converted his own try to take Welsh to a commanding 7 - 29 lead.  Stung, Bristol suddenly injected some pace and urgency into their game and Welsh were stretched for a while, but remained calm in the face of the onslaught and, sure enough play broke down and they could breathe easy.  Indeed they passed over to the offensive and seemed to have cut the Bristol defence apart, only to be called back for crossing.  Welsh continued to edge Bristol back to the goal line and eventually a penalty came.  Replacement Ed Barnes kicked the ball to touch when it came his way and was, perhaps harshly, yellow carded.  Welsh elected for the scrum but were turned over as they tried to bully a way over.  Iain Grieve grasped the loose ball and blasted his way up-field.  Pace, side-step and power.  He was finally hauled down by two tacklers on the verge of the 22 but the support was up and the ball shipped down the line.  Davies kicked just behind the defence and Watkins demonstrated his try-scoring instinct by tearing onto the ball for a converted try and 14 - 29.  There was still time for Welsh to emphasise their superiority when they swept up to the Bristol line and were awarded a penalty try that left the final score a 14 -36.