Bristol Bears continued their perfect start to the new season with a 23-8 victory away at Wasps on Saturday in Round Two of the 2022/23 Gallagher Premiership.
The victory was built on an outstanding defensive display which allowed Callum Sheedy to record an 18-point full house haul with a try, hitting four from four kicks off the tee and landing a late drop goal to go with a try from Magnus Bradbury.
Wasps scored a try in just the fifth minute of the game when hooker Tom Cruse went over in the corner from a floated pass from fly-half Charlie Atkinson who was unable to add the conversion but did strike a penalty after the break having missed a sitter before half time.
South West rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual performances from the Bristol Bears at the Coventry Building Society Arena…
READ MORE: Wasps Rugby 8-23 Bristol Bears LIVE: Reaction, injury latest and match report from away win
15. Charles Piutau - 8
The full-back made the most metres in attack out of anyone in the Bristol side on a day when the visitors only had 37 percent possession.
He was the go-to man for Bristol in attack and played a pivotal role in Magnus Bradbury’s try as he ran onto a wonderful flat pass from Sam Lewis, drew the last defender before offloading to his number eight to finish the strike.
14. Luke Morahan - 6
Making his 100th appearance for the club it was a quiet afternoon for the Australian winger who nonetheless went about sweeping up and tidying up kicks in behind classily.
13. Piers O'Conor - 7
The centre showed great hands to whip the ball wide for Rich Lane to burst down the wing in the build-up to Sheedy’s try in the corner and made a great eye-catching break of his own in the second half against his former club.
12. Sam Bedlow - 7
The centre was a defensive rock, making 16 tackles without missing.
11. Jack Bates - N/A
Brought into the starting side in place of Rich Lane, but sadly the youngster’s day was cut short in the just the second minute after he suffered a head injury and subsequently failed a HIA.
10. Callum Sheedy - 8
Having once again held off the competition of AJ MacGinty the Welsh international only went and recorded a full house on his way to an 18 point haul, scoring the opening try with a brave dive for the line, adding two conversions, two penalties and a drop call. Rising to the challenge to be the premier 10 at the club.
9. Harry Randall - 7
The England international still looks short of his best form but nipped around the park to provide some quick ball to attack from which proved vital for Sheedy’s try as he got to the breakdown quickly to give the scoring pass.
Blown up early for taking too long box kicking which felt very topical this week after the Bledsoe Cup drama in midweek.
1. Jake Woolmore - 8
Brought in to fill the sizeable shoes of the rested Ellis Genge and while he didn’t provide the X-factor runs in open play that you get from the former Tigers captain, the scrum was a real weapon to win penalties in the first hour while Woolmore was on the pitch.
2. Will Capon - 7
Promoted in place of Bryan Byrne who started last weekend and performed well, particularly in the set piece.
3. Kyle Sinckler - 8
The England tighthead prop was getting plenty of kudos and admiration for the destructive damage he was doing to the Wasps scrum. from the likes of former international prop David Flatman who was on commentating duty for Premiership Rugby TV. Occasionally falling on the wrong side of legal with his scrummaging angle but highly effective and impactful on a day when the scrum was key with Wasps producing a massive 19 handling errors. Yuck.
4. Joe Joyce - 7
The Bristolian was a go to source of clean lineout ball and put his body on the line to confront Wasps’ physicality in the forwards. He told me post match it felt like ‘one of the hardest games of his life.’
5. Chris Vui - 8
The Samoan powerhouse just personifies calmness as he almost lazily seems to always have time on the ball despite rugby chaos going on around him. A herculean display in defence with 21 tackles as he ran himself into the ground for the cause.
6. Sam Jeffries - 9
It is a tragedy Jeffries injured his hamstring in the final minute of the match because he was nothing short of phenomenal for 79 minutes as he pulled off try saving tackles and smashed everything in gold and black to lead Bristol’s best defensive effort for some time.
A clear man of the match, superhuman display.
7. Jake Heenan - 7
Zero missed tackles from the Kiwi who is becoming an increasingly important figure in this Bears side.
8. Magnus Bradbury - 8
The Scottish international number eight has seamlessly slipped into life as a Bear scoring his second try in as many weeks and this one was a bit special as he took a nice offload from Piutau and then had the pace and power to drag opposite number Alfie Barbeary over the try line with him.
A very shrewd signing on the early evidence.
Replacements
16. Bryan Byrne - 7
17. Yann Thomas - 7
18. Max Lahiff - 8
19. Ed Holmes - 7
20. Sam Lewis - 7
21. Andy Uren - 7
22. AJ MacGinty - 7
23. Rich Lane - 8
READ MORE:
