Carnage at Kingsholm. Twelve tries, 83 points, and a host more injuries to worry Bristol Bears and Gloucester, but at least for Pat Lam, the bonkers night ended with a win.
With the Bears taking it, it consigned Gloucester to their worst start to a Gallagher Prem season, this adding to three consecutive defeats by Bath, Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks.
They fought hard, despite a staggering list of absentees which only got worse during the game as Ollie Thorley (concussion), his replacement Josiah Edwards-Giraud (ankle) and Ben Loader and James Venter (both hamstring) were taken out, but ultimately Bristol, who had even more missing, prevailed to show that their pockets are a little deeper.
Even the numbers were peeling off players’ shirts by the end, to symbolise the rag-tag nature of this fixture. The Bears’ win — sealed by two late tries from Kalaveti Ravouvou and fly half Sam Worsley’s 14 points from the tee, kicking all seven conversions — takes them into the top four, before the Saturday fixtures.
“The context of my pride is what we’re going through at the moment,” Lam said, referring to his injury list. “To get five points against a dangerous team we lost to twice last year is pleasing.”
It was a credit to both teams, and perhaps the Prem itself, that despite this fixture happening with the sides missing 31 front-line players between them — 14 for Gloucester and 17 for Bristol — it rattled on at an entertaining lick.
Only once before have Gloucester conceded more points in a league match at Kingsholm
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Of course, some clunkiness and the gaps in defence were understandable as youngsters, and fresh partnerships littered the lineups due to the M*A*S*H-esque medical rooms at either club, but that made for an end-to-end game.
By half-time we had 41 points, and by full-time it was 83, two less than the teams shared the last time they met on a Friday night in the Prem in September 2024, when Gloucester won 44-41 at Ashton Gate.
Worsley crossed for the first try after a brilliant offload off the floor from Elizalde
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As the first try went in we were more worried about Thorley, though, as the wing whacked his head trying to tackle Matias Moroni, arriving as injury dispensation for Bristol last Saturday. After Worsley had dotted down at the other end, and five minutes had passed with the clock stopped, the Gloucester man was taken off on a stretcher. Max Pepper, Bristol’s wing, also departed in the first half. Make that 33 injuries, then.
Here was Gloucester’s list of absentees before kick-off: Seb Atkinson, George Barton, Will Butler, Arthur Clark, Jack Clement, Danny Eite, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Josh Hathaway, Lewis Ludlow, Val Rapava Ruskin, Ben Redshaw, Rob Russell, Jack Singleton and Tomos Williams.
And Bristol: Will Capon, Ellis Genge, Max Lahiff, Will Ramply, George Taylor, Harry Randall, Sam Wolstenholme, AJ MacGinty, James Williams, Toby Baker, Joe Jenkins, Jack Bates, Gabriel Ibitoye, Louis Rees-Zammit, Josh Carrington, Noah Heward, Rich Lane.
Skivington said it felt as though “someone has got a voodoo doll of me somewhere and is pinning me pretty hard”
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Of those, only Jordan is banned, having been sent off last week. What is happening to these players?
“I think someone has got a voodoo doll of me somewhere, and is pinning me pretty hard,” said Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington afterwards. “What is the worst case? It’s happening. We have to look at ourselves as this is ridiculous. I know there is a league-wide trend to lose a few, but we’re in dire straits for numbers now.’
Anyway, those that stayed standing made hay. Gloucester went 10-7 ahead when Matías Alemanno scored from close range, after a Ross Byrne penalty, but then Bristol hit back twice through Gabriel Oghre, at the back of a rolling maul, and when Fitz Harding sauntered through the middle of a Gloucester defence that had more holes in it than Emmental cheese.
Caolan Englefield celebrates after Blake powered over for Gloucester’s second score
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Yet the home side rallied, scoring twice themselves before the break. First hooker Seb Blake powered over when centre Max Llewellyn had been held short of the line, and then 22-year-old Hartpury College graduate Edwards-Giraud raced in down the left wing. If Byrne had hit either conversion, like Worsley had for Bristol, Gloucester would have led at the interval.
At half-time Bristol flanker Steven Luatua and Gloucester wing Loader went off, taking the insane injury tally between the sides to 35.
Oghre was next to score, from another maul, before the try of the night, provided and finished by Will Joseph. His fizzed pass to Edwards-Giraud stunned Bristol, and the outside centre anticipated the return ball beautifully to score. Cruelly, his next break ended with him tweak his ankle, so the wing hobbled off.
Ravouvou scored twice late on to seal the win for Bristol
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Viliame Mata picked a devastating line to push Bristol ahead 35-27, before James Venter replied with Gloucester’s fifth. Mata then put Ravouvou away for Bristol’s sixth, before, finally, the Fijian wing sealed it, collecting Moroni’s neat grubber behind with a diving score.
We even had time for a Mikey Austin try to be chalked off for a forward pass from Llewellyn. Time to breathe, and to do a body-count on Monday.
Scorers: Gloucester: Tries: M Alemanno (18 mins), S Blake (35), J Edwards-Giraud (38), W Joseph (59), J Venter (69). Cons: R Byrne 3. Bristol: Tries: S Worsley (6), G Oghre 2 (25, 55), F Harding (28), V Mata (64), K Ravouvou 2 (71, 77). Cons: S Worsley 7.
Gloucester: C Atkinson; B Loader (M Austin 41), W Joseph, M Llewellyn, O Thorley (J Edwards-Giraud, 6); R Byrne, C Englefield; C Knight (A McArthur, 78), S Blake (J Innard, 67), A Fasogbon (K Gotovsev, 61), F Thomas, M Alemanno (C Jordan, 54) J Basham, J Venter (H Taylor, 72), H Bokenham (J Mann, 67).
Bristol Bears: B Elizalde; M Pepper (T Fricker, 34), M Moroni (O Lennon, 78), B Janse van Rensburg, K Ravouvou; S Worsely, K Marmion; J Woolmore, G Oghre (H Thacker, 61), G Kloska (L Chawatama, 56), P Rubiolo, J Batley (J Owen, 66), S Luatua (J Dun, 41), F Harding, V Mata (B Grondona, 77).
Referee: C Maxwell-Keys. Attendance: 14,174.