Bristol Bears outsmart Bath Rugby
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Bristol Bears returned to winning ways in style as they ran in six tries at the first ever Big Day Out to beat Bath Rugby in front of a club record crowd at Principality Stadium.
51,095 supporters packed out one of the world’s top rugby arenas as Bears welcomed their West Country rivals to Cardiff for a mega Gallagher Premiership derby clash.
First-half tries from Gabriel Ibitoye, Rich lane and Gabriel Oghre put Pat Lam’s men 19-7 ahead at the break, with Ciaran Donoghue responding for the league leaders.
Further scores from Fitz Harding, Will Capon and Viliame Mata wrapped up a vital bonus-point triumph for the Bears to provide a major boost to their play-off hopes.
With Bear Country taking over Principality Stadium for the inaugural Big Day Out, a raucous crowd provided an incredible atmosphere from the first whistle before the hosts suffered an early blow when Max Lahiff was sent to the bin in the 12th minute.
The visitors took advantage of their extra man five minutes later as Donoghue benefited from a charge down to run in the opening try before stepping up to kick the extras.
A yellow card for Benhard Janse van Rensburg reduced Bears to 13 men, but the home side responded impressively to get their first points just before the half-hour mark, with Ibitoye finishing from close range, before Lane added a second on 32 minutes.
Bears piled on the pressure ahead of the interval and were rewarded with a third try as Oghre benefitted from a powerful shove from the forwards to dot down.
Following an entertaining half-time show from Maximo Park, Bears picked up where they left off to score the bonus-point try as skipper Harding crossed the whitewash.
After having a try ruled out for a forward pass, Bath added a second try through Ewan Richards on 56 minutes to make it 26-14 before Bears lost Joe Batley and Mata to the sin-bin.
But it was Bears who would have the last laugh as Capon and Mata finished the scoring with two tries in three minutes to complete an emphatic derby victory in Cardiff.
Bristol Bears: Tries: Ibitoye 26, Lane 30, Oghre 40, Harding 43, Capon 76, Mata 78; Cons: MacGinty (3)
Bath Rugby: Tries: Donoghue 17, Richards 54; Cons: Donoghue 17, 55
Bristol Bears: 15. Rich Lane, 14. Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. Josh Caulfield, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Steven Luatua, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Viliame Mata.
Replacements: 16. Will Capon, 17. Yann Thomas, 18. George Kloska, 19. James Dun, 20. Joe Owen, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Siva Naulago, Santiago Grondona.
Bath Rugby: 15. Tom de Glanville, 14. Joe Cokanasiga, 13. Louie Hennessey, 12. Orlando Bailey, 11. Austin Emens, 10 Ciaran Donoghue, 9 Louis Schreuder; 1. Francois van Wyk, 2. Jasper Spandler, 3. Archie Griffin, 4. Ewan Richards (c), 5. Ross Molony, 6. Josh Bayliss, 7. Ethan Staddon, 8. Arthur Green.
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Will Jeanes, 20 Tom Cowan, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Ruaridh McConnochie, 23 Miles Reid
