Harlequins 12-15 Bristol Bears
Bristol Bears produced an impressive defensive display to win a first game in eight as Harlequins missed out on the chance to go into the top two.
After an early penalty, Bristol drove over through hooker Harry Thacker at the maul, and though Quins hit back with a nicely worked try finished by Josh Bassett, his opposite winger Gabriel Ibitoye scored against his former club to give Bristol a 15-5 half-time lead.
The hosts dominated the next 20 minutes as they pushed to get back in the game, but the stubborn visitors held firm, most notably through a brilliant tackle in the corner by Ibitoye that denied Danny Care.
Care was the architect of a magnificent score as he found Murley with a beautifully weighted cross-field kick on the hour mark, but Andre Estwehuizen knocked on as he reached for the line in the 79th minute and Quins were denied.
A jubilant Pat Lam said: “[Esterhuizen’s near miss] was a big moment. I thought it was gone. But fair play to the boys, they put a lot of hard-work in under a lot of pressure and I’m pleased we got the win.
“[Defence coach] Jordan Crane’s done a great job on our defensive shape. In the past when it rained we would think ‘oh no’, but now we’re loving it. If it rains it doesn’t matter, we just roll our sleeves up and get on with it.
“At half-time we talked about it, ‘let’s just guts it out now and when they have a moment let’s get a moment back’. They were superb.”
Bristol pick their moments to secure solid half-time buffer
Bristol came out the blocks at a ferocious speed and led inside three minutes as AJ MacGinty knocked over a penalty with the wind on his back.
The Bears continued to press with Luke Morahan bursting up to the edge of the 22, and a penalty kicked into the corner shortly after saw Harry Thacker emerge from a pile of bodies as the scorer at a maul.
Though Bassett responded after some sharp hands from Joe Marchant , Care and Esterhuizen set him up, Bristol re-established their ten point margin as Ibitoye jinked inside after a nicely worked backs move from the 22 before providing a classy finish from 10 yards out.
That was to be almost the final act of the half, but the Londoners would have been confident they could fight back with the visitors now set to be playing into the wind.
Naive Quins come up short
As the second half unfolded, however, Quins seemed to be making their life more difficult by repeatedly turning down shots at goal. They snubbed the posts within 40m of the Bristol line on four occasions in the second period, the final of which saw Ibitoye carded for a dangerous tackle.
Not a single one of those rejections of kickable points led to an eventual try. Had Quins taken all of them they would have not only won the game but denied the visitors a losing bonus point.
Proponents of Quins’ emphasis on tries will point to Murley’s magnificent score, after the inconsistent but typically threatening Danny Care produced a superb kick to provide the clinical winger with a brilliant opportunity which he duly took.
They might also suggest Quins should have scored again; Care could shown have more agility himself to avoid his legs being dragged out by Ibitoye and Esterhuizen could have held onto the ball rather than stretching – and dropping – less than a foot from the line with support incoming.
But Bristol deserve enormous credit for a hugely gutsy performance, and having lifted themselves off the bottom of the table will head into the new year with renewed confidence.
For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need, subscribe to The Rugby Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login