By Ian Todd
February 3 2014

Bristol scored eight tries against an overwhelmed, but always positive, Jersey.  Ross Rennie scored two tries on his debut following good work from a dominant pack and the award of a penalty try emphasised this forward power.  A game that was, as is normal, won up front showcased the style of play Bristol are striving for.  Not everything came off, some of the offloading out of contact was wayward and the defensive system failed to click a couple of times but this was a fine victory that took Bristol back into the top four.  And that's despite kicking nothing at the posts

The Jersey kick-off was well taken by Marco Mama to give Bristol the initiative.  A neat kick ahead following a break from Bryan Rennie put Jersey under all sorts of pressure.  Jersey, however, forced a turnover and kicked an excellent touch finder.  Bristol claimed the lineout and cleared to halfway.  Good work from Bristol was undone when the Bristol player became isolated and penalised for holding on.  Good kicking from Jersey served only to give possession to Auguy Slowik who danced away through the defence, slipped, but was well supported by George Watkins.  He in turn broke clear, kicked ahead and followed up well.  Jersey were turned over at the breakdown and Luke Baldwin ignored the huge overlap to his left to score beneath the posts.  Nicky Robinson converted for seven-nil.

Jersey struggled at the scrum and Bristol burst downfield with Watkins and Andy Short to the fore.  Sadly the pass out of the tackle was knocked on.  The Jersey scrum was again disrupted and the visitors penalised.  A quick tap penalty came to nothing when Robinson was penalised for holding on, with the support nowhere to be seen.

Jersey managed to retain the ball and pressed Bristol back for several phases, but the defence was always solid and Jersey finally were penalised to allow Robinson to clear.  Jersey were penalised again 10 m out, and Bristol’s new policy for kicking penalties at the posts went into operation.  In fact, the old policy of kicking for touch continued.  The lineout was well taken, and the drive went in.  Jersey had no answer to the power of the Bristol pack and Ross Rennie scored on his debut.  Robinson converted for 14-nil.

Bristol looked to keep Jersey on the back foot but a sharp looking move was called back for a forward pass.  The Jersey scrum still looked under pressure, but somehow the ball was secured at the back of the scrum and a gaping defensive hole was fully exploited when Mark Foster dotted down in the corner for a brilliantly converted try and a score of 14-7.

The great break from Baldwin took Bristol to within 5 m of the Jersey line where Bristol were awarded a scrum.  Jersey’s set piece problems continued and they were penalised.  Sadly, Bristol’s quick tap penalty was flung into touch and Jersey were let off the hook.  They continued to be under pressure however and yet another disrupted scrum gave Bristol possession.  Luke Eves burst clear but with the try line begging passed inside to a recipient who knocked on and the chance was lost.  Once again, the Jersey scrum was in all sorts of problems against a dominant Bristol pack and the ball was popped up for Eves who made no mistake this time, showing great strength to force his way over the line for 21-7.  The bonus point try came up in short order when Robinson exploded into space and swept the ball out to winger Ross Johnston who powered over in the right-hand corner for an unconverted try that took the score to 26-7 at half-time.

Can anyone spot the infringement here?

Jersey started the second period in purposeful manner but, having struggled their way into the Bristol half, were turned over.  Bristol made similarly slow progress before sudden burst of speed out right from Johnston opened up the defence.  The ball went back inside and Ben Glynn took a nice pop pass and plunged over for a converted try.

Jersey were undaunted, and a flowing move culminated in Pointer crossing out wide right.  Once more the conversion was an excellent one and the score stood at 33-14.  There now followed a long passage of frenetic play from both sides.  Even the referee appeared to be drawn in to an entertaining, but error strewn, section of the game.  At one point, Jersey were awarded a penalty on the 5 m line and their quick tap effort will obviously dropped.  The Jersey backline halted in expectation of a knock-on of the referee simply ignored the infringement.  At last Bristol managed to impose structure on the game and showed skill and determination in taking play from the 5 m line well into the Jersey half.  Ruki Tipuna, on for just a few seconds, sprinted over for a converted try following a well taken Bristol lineout.

A great kick from Robinson pegged Jersey right back into their own half.  Bristol kept the visitors well contained and they gave away a number of penalties.  Finally, following yet another utterly dominant Bristol scrum, the referee’s patience snapped and he jogged behind the posts for a penalty try.  A fantastic run from Tipuna got Bristol going forward once again but Jersey managed to force a turnover, only to promptly lose the ball forward.  Scrappy play followed and a Jersey player hacked the ball downfield.  Watkins scrambled back and bravely threw himself on the ball and then straight back to his feet with ball in hand.  A lovely piece of skill which gives the lie to anyone who doubts his commitment to the Bristol cause.  At the death, another penalty was dispatched to touch and the catch and drive was successful once again, with Ross Rennie scoring his second try of the game.  The conversion was well struck by replacement Adrian Jarvis for a final score of 54-14.