BRISTOL SURVIVE TITANIC SHOCK

Bristol emerged 32 - 20 victors over a Rotherham side that looked close to pulling off a real upset for the majority of the game.  I suppose first playing fourth in a cup tie might be expected to be close but Rotherham looked comfortably the better side for much of the first half and probably much of the second.  Commentators may laud Rotherham's fitness and attitude, but Bristol aren't lacking in those areas either.  And they showed that by wresting the game from the visitors' clutches instead of crumbling.

It’s semi-final time in the ludicrous pray-off system and Bristol take on the side that finished fourth and 42 points behind them.  I just can’t take too many notes at this point in the season so you will just have to put up with a slightly more impressionistic view.  Plus we get to see it on Sky!

Gavin Henson got things underway apparently having become Bristol’s frontline kicker.  He had a couple of issues during the game when kicking from hand but, in addition to his other virtues, he doesn’t appear to allow these mistakes to affect him.  He goes for distance and if it goes wrong, instead of reverting to a more conservative approach, he’ll go for distance on the next one too.  In any event the early exchanges went Bristol’s way with two turnovers putting the visitors under pressure.  However, a soft penalty (the referee took a lot of stick during the game but as I had half-suspected a viewing of the game on TV showed that actually he was pretty much on the money except for a very few decisions) allowed Rotherham to get moving forward.  They switched play from side to side, seeking a way through.  A free kick allowed them to put some pace on the ball with the defence reorganising and Morris cut a good line to smash through the defence and touch down besides the post.  Matthew Morgan was deliberately targeted in this move.  He is a very gifted player, but there is nothing he can do about his size.  Simple physics shows that if he tackles high against a bigger player moving at speed he is going to struggle to halt him.  That was the case for this try and the next.  I am not criticising him; if we want to play a mercurial agile fly half he probably isn’t going to be 6’ 3” and 16 stone.

So Bristol were 0 – 7 behind and incurring the displeasure of the referee.  From the TV he was clearly unhappy about the way Mark Sorenson was talking to him.  It was equally clear that neither Sorenson nor Dwayne Peel were very happy with the way things were being officiated.   This was ironic because almost immediately Rotherham gave away a penalty.  It was quite a way out but in front of the posts and Henson made no mistake.  Typically Bristol were then penalised in turn to wipe that score out.  With the half drawing to its close, loose play from Rotherham allowed Gaston Cotes to hack the ball downfield.  The hosts weren’t able to take immediate advantage but at least they were playing in the right part of the field.  A penalty went their way and Henson dispatched it to touch.  A catch and drive, another penalty, this one in touch just five metres out.  Three goes from the driving maul, Rotherham under all sorts of pressure and giving away penalties.  The referee puts out his arm, having previously spoken to the visitors’ captain but Peel darted left, decoying the defence away from Jack Lam, who dotted the ball down.  It was clear that the referee had told Rotherham that the next offence would be a yellow card (if not a penalty try) he had penalised them again.  Yes, Bristol scored but surely having indicated that another penalty would mean a card he should have shown it anyway?  I think that was an error and contrasts slightly with his action later in the game.  Anyway, Henson’s conversion attempt grazed the outside of the post and Bristol went in at the break 8 – 10 behind.  Trailing at the end of the first half, how unusual.

The second half got off to a difficult start for the hosts when Gareth Maule (who had a good game overall) was, rightly, sent to the sin-bin when Rotherham sliced the Bristol defence apart.  They had something of a let off with the straightforward penalty effort missing by miles.  The loss of a player seemed to galvanise Bristol into action and they upped the pace with a nice break from Ryan Jones setting up Lam for another abrasive run.  Under pressure, Rotherham were penalised and Hislop received a yellow card.  Unfortunately for Bristol it was Rotherham’s turn to be galvanised by misfortune and they worked a great try.  The Bristol defence was far too narrow and there was a huge gap out on the Rotherham left that gave them a three to two overlap and they exploited it ruthlessly to take them to what was a deserved 8 – 17 lead.

Bristol simply had to do something now and the score was closed by a Henson penalty.  Then the game turned on its head with some inspired play.  Nick Robinson came on and Morgan shifted to full back.  Robinson was roundly criticised for his performance in the final last season (and you could see his frustration at the time) but now he transformed Bristol.  He burst into space, cutting a lovely angle that completely dislocated the Rotherham defence.  As the visitors scrambled back he looped the ball out to David Lemi on the wing.  The winger still had plenty to do, he rounded the first defender and then off his right foot to swerve round the last and dashed over behind the posts.  The significant thing here was that the nearest players to him at this point were from Bristol, the defence had been pulled apart.  The conversion took Bristol in front for the first time at 18 – 17.

Bristol really upped the tempo at this point and left the visitors reeling.  Rotherham were penalised and it was despatched to touch.  The initial drive from the pack took play close to the line before Charlie Amesbury hammered in off his wing, and showed tremendous determination to force his way to the line and reached out to score a converted try.  A suddenly confident home side were looking for at least one more try and were at last able to make what had appeared to be real dominance at the scrum tell.  A succession of five metre scrums left the Rotherham pack creaking.  They conceded penalties at each one before Bristol’s pack simply drove straight through them.  Jones, now at 8 (and if there is one aspect of his game in which he is clearly better than Mitch Eadie in that role it his control of the ball with a scrum moving rapidly forward), kept the ball at his feet before plunging over the line.  However, just before this the referee had lost patience with Rotherham’s inability to legally contain Bristol’s power and he was already running behind the post for a penalty try.  It’s hard to see how Rotherham’s play had prevented a probable try when, in fact we had clearly not been prevented from scoring, but it made the conversion much easier and Bristol’s fortunes had metamorphosed with the score at 32 -17.  Sadly there was still time for Rotherham to narrow the gap with a penalty goal but Bristol go into the second leg twelve points to the good.  That’s so much better than last season!