Bristol vs Bath (Friday night)

[jimKRFC]

You're not that bad tonight.

Think you're being generous there - it's Andy Robinson level rubbish... To be fair there there are two lower levels beneath that.

Not sure there any positives to take, the defence is weak, line out is a mess and the attack is blunt. Barring a Bath melt down we won't get back into this.

[FKAS]

Bailey looks a different player tonight. That bendy volley to the outside is lovely, wonderful vision. Good finishing as well.

[FKAS]

Jake Kerr has added quite a bit to Bristol in this second half. Capon might be lucky to retain the shirt next weekend.

[Scrumhead]

Indeed. Quite the cameo.

[jimKRFC]

Jake Kerr has added quite a bit to Bristol in this second half. Capon might be lucky to retain the shirt next weekend.

Not sure if the line out mess was the throw or the jumpers! Kerr definitely benefited from not being targeted by Underhill though.

Better 2nd half and signs of things coming together for Bris. Have to say Bath should have won but the missed scores in the 1st half cost them.

Bailey looks good, makes you wonder why he wasn't given a shot last season.

[Beasties]

Bailey looks a different player tonight. That bendy volley to the outside is lovely, wonderful vision. Good finishing as well.

He did good things all night. His little double pump passes created a lot of problems and when it wasn't on he managed to improvise nicely. Entertaining match.

[FKAS]

Bailey looks a different player tonight. That bendy volley to the outside is lovely, wonderful vision. Good finishing as well.

He did good things all night. His little double pump passes created a lot of problems and when it wasn't on he managed to improvise nicely. Entertaining match.

Yes I liked the way the ball constantly moved in his hands, makes it very difficult for a defender if the ball carrier has two hands on and is doing the old pump ready or not for the pass. He played close to the line and generally made good decisions.

I thought Ojomoh looked good as well. Those little dinks over the top into space turning the defence were a nice touch. Joseph organising things from 13 obviously but that 10/12 combination had a lot to like about it and with Redpath still to come back as well.

Bath were let down by their forwards. Once Kerr came on and gave Bristol a foothold at the lineout then Bath really struggled. The discipline was poor and only exacerbated by the early-ish withdrawal of McInally who was playing well for Williams who's a physical lump but mentally as sharp as a soup spoon. Given the three forwards coaches on the books at Bath the capitulation in that second half really shouldn't happen.

For Bristol well, I think O'Connor and Lloyd may have to come out of the fantasy team because at the minute the Bristol backline look they are playing a President's Day game it's all off the cuff let's see if we can find a moment of magic. Took 60 minutes for the offloads to stick and Luatua did a better imitation of a centre than the two Bristol centres managed.

[fivepointer]

Really enjoyable game. Bath were very good but lost their way a bit after Underhill came off. Couldnt understand that, I thought he was the best player on the pitch.
Bath well served by their young half backs and Ojomoh looked seriously good. Muir's 2nd try was the highlight of the game.
Bris cut out the errors and played with a bit more continuity as the game wore on.

[Puja]

Was it just me who couldn't spot the "knock-on" that was called to rule out the Ojomoh try? The ref blew before he'd dotted down, so it couldn't go to the TMO, but no-one appeared to pick it up in commentary.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Looked a bit suspect live but on replay it appeared to be absolutely fine.

[Which Tyler]

Was it just me who couldn't spot the "knock-on" that was called to rule out the Ojomoh try? The ref blew before he'd dotted down, so it couldn't go to the TMO, but no-one appeared to pick it up in commentary.

Far from on your own. Hell even Shedweb are expressing sympathy for Bath.

Personally, I'm not happy with Tempest (or his assistants) after that display.
Ultimately, we had enough chances to put it beyond his control; but the wrongly disallowed try rankles. Equally a fair bit of our disciplinary problems were the result of pressure and frustration - which we need to be better at handling.

Scrum was awful though - I'd hoped that Stuart and McNally back would help there; but...


Despite everything, it was a brilliant game of rugby, and I stuggle to be upset about it.

[Oakboy]

It's been a really tough 11 months, but I think I'm falling back in love with this sport.
Last season's final, and matches like this are just so much fun.

Spot-on, that.

As a matter of interest can someone explain the attributes of Randall? Every time I watch Uren he looks outstanding and a far better all-round SH. I must be missing something.

[Digby]

And a Friday night game too, Bath and Bristol clearly didn't get the memo

[Mikey Brown]

It's been a really tough 11 months, but I think I'm falling back in love with this sport.
Last season's final, and matches like this are just so much fun.

Spot-on, that.

As a matter of interest can someone explain the attributes of Randall? Every time I watch Uren he looks outstanding and a far better all-round SH. I must be missing something.

He's clearly got some talent as a runner, and seems to have a decent enough pass. I can't really tell yet what more there is that makes him a better option than (say) Joe Simpson from 5 or 6 years ago.

[Oakboy]

It's been a really tough 11 months, but I think I'm falling back in love with this sport.
Last season's final, and matches like this are just so much fun.

Spot-on, that.

As a matter of interest can someone explain the attributes of Randall? Every time I watch Uren he looks outstanding and a far better all-round SH. I must be missing something.

He's clearly got some talent as a runner, and seems to have a decent enough pass. I can't really tell yet what more there is that makes him a better option than (say) Joe Simpson from 5 or 6 years ago.

Interesting comparison. Randall (like Simpson was, perhaps) seems to me to be good game-changing replacement but not a true 80 minute 'right thing, right time, right place' starter. Maybe, he'll adapt and improve. I'm not knocking him just wondering if he has real potential or not.

[Beasties]

Was it just me who couldn't spot the "knock-on" that was called to rule out the Ojomoh try? The ref blew before he'd dotted down, so it couldn't go to the TMO, but no-one appeared to pick it up in commentary.

Far from on your own. Hell even Shedweb are expressing sympathy for Bath.

Personally, I'm not happy with Tempest (or his assistants) after that display.
Ultimately, we had enough chances to put it beyond his control; but the wrongly disallowed try rankles. Equally a fair bit of our disciplinary problems were the result of pressure and frustration - which we need to be better at handling.

Scrum was awful though - I'd hoped that Stuart and McNally back would help there; but...


Despite everything, it was a brilliant game of rugby, and I stuggle to be upset about it.

How long has Stuart been out? He's a better olayer than he showed last night. I just concluded he wasn't match fit, he got worse as the game went on, but I've no idea of his injury situation.

[Puja]

Was it just me who couldn't spot the "knock-on" that was called to rule out the Ojomoh try? The ref blew before he'd dotted down, so it couldn't go to the TMO, but no-one appeared to pick it up in commentary.

Far from on your own. Hell even Shedweb are expressing sympathy for Bath.

Personally, I'm not happy with Tempest (or his assistants) after that display.
Ultimately, we had enough chances to put it beyond his control; but the wrongly disallowed try rankles. Equally a fair bit of our disciplinary problems were the result of pressure and frustration - which we need to be better at handling.

Scrum was awful though - I'd hoped that Stuart and McNally back would help there; but...


Despite everything, it was a brilliant game of rugby, and I stuggle to be upset about it.

How long has Stuart been out? He's a better olayer than he showed last night. I just concluded he wasn't match fit, he got worse as the game went on, but I've no idea of his injury situation.

First game back, so he's bound to be rusty. Didn't think he was bad - made some quality metres in very tight carrying.

Puja

[jimKRFC]

Was it just me who couldn't spot the "knock-on" that was called to rule out the Ojomoh try? The ref blew before he'd dotted down, so it couldn't go to the TMO, but no-one appeared to pick it up in commentary.

I can understand the frustration, but it does balance over time. I distinct recall Bristol having chalked off for a knock on about 6 phases before the try so it shouldn't even had been looked at but the TMO didn't know/ignored the guidance on it.

Same with the knock on against Bristol from the rip on POC that he regathered and was a play on.

To be perfectly honest Bath were the better side.

[FKAS]

Was it just me who couldn't spot the "knock-on" that was called to rule out the Ojomoh try? The ref blew before he'd dotted down, so it couldn't go to the TMO, but no-one appeared to pick it up in commentary.

Far from on your own. Hell even Shedweb are expressing sympathy for Bath.

Personally, I'm not happy with Tempest (or his assistants) after that display.
Ultimately, we had enough chances to put it beyond his control; but the wrongly disallowed try rankles. Equally a fair bit of our disciplinary problems were the result of pressure and frustration - which we need to be better at handling.

Scrum was awful though - I'd hoped that Stuart and McNally back would help there; but...


Despite everything, it was a brilliant game of rugby, and I stuggle to be upset about it.

**Referee:** Ian Tempest (92nd Premiership game).

**Assistant Referees:** Greg Macdonald and Jonathan Healy. **TMO:** Karl Dickson.

Well you did somewhat get the short straw. Tempest is average as a ref. Macdonald I've only seen ref a couple of times and he was poor both times, dunno the other TJ. TMO is the worst ref in the league.