Janse van Rensburg steers Bristol Bears to top four
MATCH REPORT: Bristol moved above Exeter and into the top four in the PREM with a 52-19 win over rock-bottom Newcastle but the Bears endured multiple injury scares at Kingston Park.
Joe Batley was a late withdrawal a few minutes before kick-off and Rich Lane limped off immediately after opening the scoring, with replacement Kalaveti Ravouvou scoring Bristol’s second try moments later.
Tom Jordan went over but Gabriel Oghre and Benjamin Grondona also hobbled off, as did Noah Heward after he bagged Bristol’s bonus-point try, while former Newcastle centre Matias Moroni getting on the score-sheet against his former side.
Benhard Janse van Rensburg bagged a brace before Harry Thacker rubberstamped an emphatic Bristol win, which puts them one point ahead of play-off rivals Exeter, who can regain fourth spot when they travel to Gloucester on Sunday.
This was a 13th defeat in 14 matches for Newcastle, who battled hard but were repeatedly broken open from the off.
Joe Owen was unable to gather when he had the try-line in sight down the left but Moroni’s touch of class on the opposite flank put Bristol ahead, with the Argentinian chipping and recollecting from a long chase before an instinctive pass back inside allowed Lane to score.
The full-back made way having seemingly tweaked his hamstring by scoring although from the kick-off, his stand-in Ravouvou ran in on the diagonal with his first touch after Heward collected the loose ball and charged through a gap.
But when scrum-half Harry Randall’s clearance kick was intercepted, Newcastle got on the board as they went through the phases before Adam Brocklebank burrowed over after two team-mates were held up.
Tom Jordan showed a clean pair of heels to round Brocklebank and dot down after 25 minutes then added the third of his four conversions for a 21-5 lead but hooker Oghre and number eight Grondona went off on the half hour.
Gabriel Ibitoye’s last-gasp challenge denied Alex Hearle an 80-metre try and Bristol regrouped during the interval, with Heward darting over on the left for the visitors’ bonus-point try, finishing a move started by Jordan piercing a gap in Newcastle’s line before sprinting 40 metres.
Moroni also touched down on the left within five minutes of the restart but after Heward trudged off, Ben Healy’s cross-field kick allowed Christian Wade to steal in for Newcastle’s second try on the right.
Janse van Rensburg teed up Heward and Moroni to score and the South African deservedly got one himself, shrugging off a couple of challenges to dive over before James Williams took on kicking duties to put Bristol 40-12 ahead.
After Josh Hodge converted his own score for Newcastle, Janse van Rensburg was in again on the right for Bristol’s seventh try but Sam Wolstenholme failed to bring up their half-century of points when he dropped the ball with the try line at his mercy.
However, a maul from the lineout in the final minute led to Thacker touching down and Williams added the extras.
The scorers:
For Newcastle:
Tries: Brocklebank, Wade, Hodge
Cons: Healy, Hodge
For Bristol:
Tries: Lane, Ravouvou, Jordan, Heward, Moroni, Janse van Rensburg 2, Thacker
Cons: Jordan 4, Williams 2
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Rhys Beeckmans, 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 10 Brett Connon, 9 James Elliott, 8 Reuben Parsons, 7 Tom Christie (captain), 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Finn Baker, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Ollie Fletcher, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Samson Adejimi, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Ben Healy, 23 George Bolam
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Benjamin Grondona, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Joe Owen, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 George Taylor, 20 Kofi Cripps, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 James Williams, 23 Kalaveti Ravouvou
Referee: George Selwood
Assistant Referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose
