Bristol Bears bottle the emotion to produce winning display at Bath Rugby

Bristol Bears beat Bath Rugby 36-26 at the Recreation Ground on Saturday in Round Three of the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership

Bristol Bears moved top of the Gallagher Premiership with an impressive 36-26 derby win over highly fancied neighbours Bath Rugby at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

A fired-up Bears side turned up to their neighbours with greater intensity and accuracy to secure a bonus point win, with debutant Santiago Grondona touching down a brace of tries having returned from international duty with Argentina in the Rugby Championship earlier in the week. The flanker, who signed for the club more than a year ago but suffered an ACL injury on the eve of the World Cup, scored two tries and there were also touchdowns for full-back Max Malins, centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg and hooker Gabriel Oghre, with fly-half AJ MacGinty kicking four conversions and a penalty for 11 points.

READ MORE: Bath Rugby 26-36 Bristol Bears LIVE: Reaction and highlights from the Recreation Ground

Bath, conquerors of Northampton and Leicester in their first two games, trailed 26-7 at half-time having been a distant second best, just a 55m solo wonder-try from Sam Harris to show for their efforts .Centres Will Butt and Ollie Lawrence and lock Ross Molony crossed the whitewash in the second half as the hosts’ superior bench and need to restore some pride sparked a comeback, led by fly-half Finn Russell who added three conversions for six points. But Bristol were always in the driving seat and claimed an impressive win on the road.

Bristol, fresh from a high-scoring defeat against Gloucester last time out, took just 88 seconds to open their account. Winger Gabriel Ibitoye was the creator, breaking free in midfield and, despite Bath’s defence halting his progress, he managed to find centre James Williams, who sent Malins over for a try that MacGinty converted.

Bath thought they had conjured an equalising try seven minutes later but flanker Ted Hill was judged not to have grounded the ball behind Bristol’s lines thanks to a last-ditch tackle from Williams and MacGinty, with the centre’s leg dislodging the ball.

The home side, though, only had to wait another three minutes before drawing level and it was a spectacular solo effort from Harris, who caught a loose Bristol kick inside his own half., broke a poor tackle from Ibitoye and then outstripped chasing defenders to scorch in under the posts.

Russell added the conversion, yet Bath fell behind for a second time during an eventful opening quarter when Bristol made ground in midfield and England prop Ellis Genge delivered a scoring pass to Grondona.

MacGinty again added the extras and with Bristol growing in confidence they notched a third try when Janse van Rensburg finished off following a quickly-taken penalty by Oghre.

Bristol went in pursuit of a bonus-point try before the interval and it arrived following sustained pressure inside Bath’s 22 that ended with Grondona pouncing for his second touchdown and MacGinty converting.

Bath had a chance to cut the deficit but Bristol turned possession over and took a healthy 19-point lead with them into the interval.

MacGinty kicked a penalty early in the second-half, before Bath had a second try disallowed when a knock-on in approach play by Thomas du Toit - back from South Africa - denied flanker Guy Pepper a score after Grondona had been yellow-carded following a run of penalties against the hosts as they defended their try line for their lives..

The home side continued to dominate territory and they breached Bristol’s defence when Butt crossed in the corner and Russell converted, making it 29-14 after 56 minutes.

The fightback was well and truly underway just two minutes later when a piece of Russell magic carved open Bristol’s defence, selling a dummy and the offloading for replacement Molony to have an easy finish, with Russell’s conversion leaving Bath just eight points behind.

But Bath were then their own worst enemies as flanker Sam Underhill was yellow-carded for diving on a ruck following a break from MacGinty just five minutes after going on as a substitute and Bristol struck from a driven line out as Oghre crossed at the bottom of the maul and MacGinty converted.

Lawrence’s try three minutes from the end, dancing down the right touchline, gave Bath a bonus point but it proved a frustrating afternoon for Johann van Graan’s team who gave themselves too big a job to do in the second half.

Bath Rugby:15 Sam Harris, 14 Tom de Glanville, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Will Butt, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Finn Russell, , 9 Ben Spencer (capt); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Niall Annett, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Jaco Coetzee.

Bristol Bears : 15. Max Malins, 14. Gabriel Ibitoye, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams, 11. Rich Lane, 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. James Dun, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Steven Luatua, 7. Santiago Grondona (debut), 8. Fitz Harding (c).

Replacements : 16. Will Capon, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. George Kloska, 19. Joe Owen, 20. Benjamin Grondona, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Joe Jenkins, 23. Jack Bates.

Referee: Christophe Ridley

Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe and Jamie Leahy

TMO: Dean Richards