Janse van Rensburg helps Bristol ruin Marler's farewell
PREMIERSHIP FRIDAY WRAP: Joe Marler’s farewell turned into a nightmare for Harlequins as Bristol stormed to a 48-24 victory in a 10-try thriller at The Stoop on Friday.
Marler made his 286th and last appearance for Quins just four weeks after announcing his England career was over.
The 34-year-old left the field to a standing ovation in the 48th minute but Bristol spoiled the party as they moved to the top of the Premiership table.
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Farewell to a legend of the game 👏@JoeMarler, you did it your way ❤️#COYQ #HARvBRI pic.twitter.com/xHG7gCEjFf
— Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) November 29, 2024
Six tries were shared in the first half as Kalaveti Ravouvou, Gabriel Ibitoye and Kieran Marmion crossed for the Bears, while Alex Dombrandt, Cadan Murley and Luke Northmore replied for the home side.
The game was still in the balance when Marler, one of rugby’s most colourful characters, disappeared down the tunnel, but Bristol quickly galloped out of sight in a dominant third quarter decorated by three outstanding tries.
Bill Mata, Bernhard Janse van Rensburg and Santiago Grondona were the scorers as Pat Lam’s men tore the Premiership’s second-tightest defence to shreds.
Meanwhile, Newcastle climbed off the foot of the table with a hard-fought 17-12 victory over Saracens.
Tobias Elliott scored the first try of the evening for Saracens, but Newcastle responded with two of their own after Alex Hearle and Adam Radwan both crossed for the hosts to lead 17-5 at half-time.
A quieter second half saw Sarries begin to push into Newcastle territory and Tom Willis scored a try in the final minutes, but a fantastic defensive display saw the Falcons secure just their second win in 28 Premiership matches.
See below for Friday’s scores and scorers!
Harlequins 24-48 Bristol
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: Dombrandt, Murley, Northmore, Green
Cons: Evans 2
For Bristol:
Tries: Ravouvou, Ibitoye, Marmion, Mata, Van Rensburg, Grondona
Cons: MacGinty 6
Pens: MacGinty 2
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Luke Northmore, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (captain), 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Dino Lamb, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Titi Lamostiele, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jamie Benson, 23 Nick David.
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Joe Owen, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Benjamin Grondona, 21 Oscar Lennon, 22 Joe Jenkins, 23 Benjamin Elizalde
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Joe James, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Newcastle 17-12 Saracens
For Newcastle:
Tries: Hearle, Radwan
Cons: Connon 2
Pen: Connon
For Saracens:
Tries: Elliott, Willis
Con: Burke
Teams:
Newcastle: 15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Ben Stevenson, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Philip van der Walt, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Murray McCallum
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Mike Rewcastle, 18 Callum Hancock, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Max Pepper, 22 Connor Doherty, 23 Adam Radwan
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl (captain), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Toby Knight, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Theo McFarland, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Sam Spink, 23 Tom Parton.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant and Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards
