This South-West Derby kicked off week 13 with a bang as Bristol destroyed Gloucester 53-12 at Ashton Gate, with a total of seven tries and two late penalties.
Bristol Dominant
Bristol were all over Gloucester in the first half, and that dominance was shown as early as third minute when Kieran Marmion dove over the line after the forwards tried to batter the door down. Gloucester thought they had got back into the game when George Barton went over after pouncing on a loose ball to make it 7-5 to Bristol after 10 minutes.
The game then turned into the Kalaveti Ravouvou show as he scored twice in three minutes. Firstly there was some great handling in the build up and Ravouvou went over in the corner on 13 minutes. Then he went over again after 16 minutes, and the score is suddenly 19-5 after 17 minutes.
Things went from bad to worse as Charlie Atkinson was sent to the sin bin for not releasing the tackle close to the try line. Bristol made them pay when Fitz Harding went over from a slick tap penalty play. That try secured the bonus point, and James Williams converted three of those tries.
With still four minutes left on Atkinson’s yellow, Josiah Edwards-Giraud joined him after a deliberate knock-on with the tryline beckoning for Bristol. Referee Ian Tempest had no choice but to award the penalty try as well. There was still time for Deian Gwynne to force his way over the line, which was converted by George Barton to make the score 33-12 at half time.
Gloucester had no answer
The second half started in similar fashion to the first, with Bristol going over for their sixth try of the evening, as Tom Jordan intercepts a pass and plays a one-two with Ravouvou and Jordan went over unopposed for the score. Williams kicked his fourth conversion to make it 40-12, just five minutes after the restart.
A flurry of replacements followed that broke up play a little, but it was Bristol again for their seventh try when Gabriel Oghre scored after a decent line out maul by the Bristol forwards. Again Williams converted for his fifth of the evening and the score 47-12.
Gloucester almost got their third try of the evening when Will Trenholm reached for the line, but he dropped the ball. Bristol’s Steele Barker was sent to the sin bin for an accumulation of penalties at the maul. With the game over as a contest, Bristol’s Tom Jordan added two penalties to make the final score 53-12.
Bristol put more pressure on the teams in the playoffs, as they moved to within 2 points of Exeter Chiefs, and face Newcastle Red Bulls next week. Gloucester on the other hand, will be looking over their shoulders at the bottom end of the table, and have another South-West derby as they host Exeter.
