| Gloucester (8) 27 |
| Tries: Singleton, Harris, Penalty, Chapman Con: Hastings Pen: Hastings |
| Bristol (3)10 |
| Try: Purdy Con: Sheedy Pen: Sheedy |
Gloucester moved into the Premiership’s top four with a first victory over West Country rivals Bristol since 2018.
The game was level at 3-3 until two minutes before half-time when Jack Singleton finished off a driving line-out maul to put the hosts in front.
Bristol started the second half in much brighter fashion and went in front through Henry Purdy’s 44th-minute try.
A Chris Harris score and a penalty try restored Gloucester’s lead, before Charlie Chapman sealed a bonus point.
The defeat means last year’s semi-finalists Bristol have now lost six out of their opening nine games this season.
Gloucester’s good start was rewarded on the scoreboard when Adam Hastings knocked over a simple penalty after five minutes, with Callum Sheedy levelling it up for the visitors soon after.
That was how it stayed in a scrappy first half until the 38th minute when Singleton scored among a mass of bodies, with the try given after a check by David Rose, the television match official.
Hastings badly miscued the conversion and the try seemed to spur Bristol into life as Alapati Leiua broke a tackle but was cut down 10 metres short of the line, allowing Gloucester to take an 8-3 lead into the break.
Bears centre Semi Radradra came on at half-time for his first appearance of the season and immediately showed his star quality, taking the kick-off before offloading between two tacklers to send Purdy into space, but the ex-Gloucester man’s kick went straight into touch.
The Fijian’s introduction visibly lifted his team-mates and a Charles Piutau break led to Sheedy sending a kick cross-field, which deflected wickedly away from Louis Rees-Zammit to allow Purdy to score four minutes into the second half to give Bristol a 10-8 lead.
Gloucester lost number eight Ben Morgan to injury but got their noses back in front just before the hour when Mark Atkinson’s kick in behind the Bears defence was finished by Scottish centre Harris, and Hastings’ conversion made it 15-10.
The hosts seized the advantage and stretched their lead when Bristol illegally brought down a driving maul from a line-out, resulting in a penalty try and Bears openside Dan Thomas being sent to the sin-bin.
Substitute scrum-half Chapman’s breakaway try with a minute remaining secured the bonus point to continue the Cherry and Whites’ promising campaign and prolong their opponents’ poor run of form.
Gloucester head coach George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:
“We saw what they did at the start of the second half when they almost scored a try straight away, then they do score one and suddenly the pressure is on.
“That was probably the most pleasing part of the game for me because the pressure came on and we contained it against a very potent attacking threat. It was always going to be a really hard day but I was really pleased with the work ethic and the way the boys kept their heads.
“I thought Bristol showed some really quality out there and I’m sure they’re going to go on a run in the next few weeks. Our maul has been real weapon this year. Charlie Chapman came on and got to celebrate in front of the Shed which is every little Gloucester boy’s dream.
“The big objective is to give everyone in Gloucester something to be proud of whatever the result. I think we’re building something in terms of a connection with everybody.”
Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:
“It’s frustration because we couldn’t get momentum in the game and when we did we turned it over. We talked about control was key, it looked nice but it was wet out there so we talked about getting the ball in behind, we had so many opportunities to do that but we didn’t.
“We created opportunities but we lost them really fast. We spent a lot of time on defence. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Gloucester, they played well and were buoyed by a great crowd.
“Semi [Radradra] took the ball and created space like only he can. He did a great job and it’s good to see him back.
“We lost that game fair and square. We park this now and go into the Champions Cup and it’s exciting. We’ve got enough games to come back later on.”
Gloucester: Evans; Rees-Zammit, Harris, Atkinson, Thorley; Hastings, Meehan; Rapava-Ruskin, Singleton, Gotovtsev, Clarke, Alemanno, Ackermann, Ludlow (capt), Morgan.
Replacements: Socino, Elrington, Ford-Robinson, Davidson, Reid, Chapman, Twelvetrees, Moyle
Bristol: Piutau; Fricker, Purdy, O’Conor, Leiua; Sheedy, Randall; Woolmore, Thacker, Afoa, Attwood, Joyce, Vui, D Thomas, Luatua (capt).
Replacements: Kerr, Y Thomas, Challenger, Heenan, Harding, Whiteley, Radradra, Morahan
Sin-bin: Thomas (67)
Referee: Christophe Ridley
