Bristol Bears 2019/20

Luke Morahan scores
against Harlequins in the
final game before the
postponement
4 At Welford Road in round eight, the
Bears were made to pay for some early
indiscipline as Leicester Tigers took the
spoils from an end-to-end Gallagher
Premiership clash at Welford Road.
But Lam’s men returned to winning ways
in another pulsating West Country derby
in round nine, as Henry Purdy came back
to haunt Gloucester with a try in a 34-16
victory at Ashton Gate.
The fightback theme continued at
Franklin’s Gardens, as the Bears
overturned a 14-point half-time deficit to
beat Northampton Saints, thanks to tries
from Henry Purdy and Lewis Thiede.
The Bears completed the double over
rivals Bath in round 12 with a 13-19
win - Chris Vui, Alapati Leiua and Harry
Randall all touching down to record a
first victory at The Recreation Ground
since 2006.
And the Bears stormed to a fifth
successive Gallagher Premiership win
for the first time in the club’s history in
round 13, as a blistering first-half display
overpowered Harlequins at Ashton Gate.
Luke Morahan struck inside 47 seconds
to get Bristol up and running, and the
Australian added his second on 21
minutes after Aaron Morris had hit back
for Quins. Henry Purdy was sent to the
sin bin, but Callum Sheedy added two
penalties and Chris Vui scored again to
give the hosts a commanding lead.
Away from the Premiership, the Bears
also secured a home quarter-final in
the European Challenge Cup with an
unbeaten pool stage campaign, setting
up a clash with Dragons on Friday,
September 18th.
Five wins and a draw in Pool Four,
including home and away victories over
Stade Francais and Brive, saw the Bears
cruise through as the competition’s
second seeds.
What it all means is that on resumption,
the reinforced Bears – now featuring
Semi Radradra, Kyle Sinckler, Max
Malins, Ben Earl, Mitch Eadie and Chris
Cook – are still fighting on all fronts.
And with domestic and European
silverware on offer, it promises to be an
enthralling finale to the most unique of
seasons.
“WITH DOMESTIC AND
EUROPEAN SILVERWARE
ON OFFER, IT PROMISES
TO BE AN ENTRALLING
FINALE TO THE MOST
Chay Mullins of Bristol
Bears U18 is tackled by
Lewis Robertson
UNIQUE OF SEASONS.”
19