Bok's late try denies Bristol top spot
PREMIERSHIP REPORT: Bristol missed a chance to go top, as Springbok Nizaam Carr’s last-minute try gave Wasps a 26-21 win at Ashton Gate on Friday.
Wasps outscored the hosts four tries to two, with Jacob Umaga, Malakai Fekitoa, Matteo Minozzi and Carr all crossing for the Midlands club, while Umaga also kicked three conversions.
Charles Piutau and Harry Thacker scored tries for southwest club Bristol as Callum Sheedy kicked three penalties and a conversion.
It seemed those points off the tee would prove decisive until Wasps came from behind right at the finish when Carr tip-toed down the right touchline and then crashed over for the winning try, with Umaga adding a conversion.
The hosts went into the interval with a narrow lead thanks to three points from the boot of Callum Sheedy before a rollercoaster second-half broke out.
Wasps took the lead for the first time when Jacob Umaga crossed two minutes after the restart after the fly-half had missed two kicks at goal in the first half.
Sheedy closed the gap with another penalty before Charles Piutau went over to put Bristol back in front, with Sheedy adding the extras to stretch the lead to six points.
Dai Young’s men responded again either side of the hour mark when both Malakai Fekitoa and Matteo Minozzi touched down to put Wasps back in front.
Harry Thacker’s try on 68 minutes then closed the gap to one point before Sheedy knocked over what appeared to be the match-winning penalty on 76 minutes.
But with the clock ticking down, Carr found space down the right side and stormed over to clinch a stunning victory as Umaga added the extras.
Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam said: “Extremely disappointed – obviously, like all Bristol fans will be, because let’s be fair we didn’t play that well, especially in the first half.
“We turned over too much ball, we gave away silly penalties – all the things we didn’t want to do – because we did not have enough respect for the ball to control it when it’s slippery out there.
“With two minutes to go we put ourselves in with a chance to win the game. To allow them to break out was unacceptable.
“We couldn’t get any of our game going as we were losing the ball. I think it was eight turnovers. three dead passes, three dropped balls, one lost in contact, one poor kick.
“That’s why we had 38 per cent possession. We couldn’t get going. It wasn’t that we weren’t taking the right option, it was just the execution.”
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young said: “I think we’ve been in every game this season, I don’t think we’ve been well beaten in any game. We just haven’t handled those sticky moments in the game when we’ve lost momentum.
“We’ve let teams get in front of us but today we stayed in the fight, we didn’t panic and to get that win will hopefully give us confidence and belief to kick on from here.
“Pretty much every game this season we’ve been there or thereabouts at half-time but our poorest period week in, week out has been that 10 minutes after half-time, managing that period.
“Yet again we made one or two mistakes, gave away a couple of penalties, but I thought we looked far more controlled tonight and we contained their attack pretty well.
“I thought we left a number of points out there as well. We had one or two opportunities where we created a bit of space and we didn’t finish it off.
“I think we would have been disappointed to only come away with a losing bonus point. Things haven’t quite gone our way this season but hopefully, this will be the turning point.”
The scorers
For Bristol Bears
Tries: Piutau, Thacker
Con: Sheedy
Pens: Sheedy 3
For Wasps
Tries: Umaga, Fekitoa, Minozzi, Carr
Cons: Umaga 3
Teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Toby Fricker, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Steven Luatua (captain), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Jordan Lay, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Sam Bedlow.
Wasps: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Jack Willis, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 Joe Launchbury (captain), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ben Harris.
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom West, 18 Jack Owlett, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Juan de Jongh.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace & Rob Warburton.
TMO: Trevor Fisher.
Report by AFP & @premrugby
