Joe Batley, a man who has beaten cancer and seen his former club Worcester Warriors collapse into the financial abyss to become jobless in recent month only to return to his former club Bristol was the man who inspired the Bears to a famous 26-18 victory over South Africa A.
The lock never took a backwards step as he and the Bristol pack managed to live with the physicality of the visitors and then struck through their elusive backs.
With every big penalty win, forced knock on and momentum turning moment, Batley exploded with a roar that could be heard over the din of more than 26,000 Bristolians inside Ashton Gate, who sent the decibels through the roof when encouraged by their cheerleader in Chief from the second row.
READ MORE: Bristol Bears 26-18 South Africa A LIVE: Full reaction as Bristol beat international side
Batley said: “These are the occasions you play rugby for. The fans have been absolutely amazing. It has been a tough few months for me but it has been amazing to come back to Bristol and play in a game like this.
"It is everything I have ever dreamed of. There is a lot of love in this group and we wanted to show everyone how much it means to play for this club. A lot of boys put their bodies on the line.
“Hopefully, we can use this as a springboard to kick on in the league."
Sitting 10th in the now 11 team Premiership, a boost of confidence and form is exactly what is required at the Bears. And on Thursday it was a night when the big players at Bristol, despite a simply stunning world-class unavailable list, stood up to be counted with Welsh international fly-half Callum Sheedy landing six out of six kicks, as the Bears treated the contest like a true Test match and took the points whenever they were on offer. With Sheedy in red-hot form, shots from close to the halfway line felt like a certainty.
It was a cagey opening to the match with both sides struggling to be clinical, and South Africa took the lead through the boot of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The Bears responded with a powerful burst from Fitz Harding to get the hosts on the front foot and it was the young number eight who was at the centre of the controversial moment of the first half as he was hit high in the head by South African lock Jason Jenkins. After a long TMO review, lenient referee Gianluca Gnecchi opted to give the Leinsterman just a yellow card. During his time off the pitch the Bears managed to add a pair of penalties from Sheedy either side of another Feinberg-Mngomezulu goal meaning the sides were level at 6-6 when Jenkins returned.
But Bristol broke the try deadlock before the break with some magic from Luke Morahan who tip-toed down the wing before passing back inside to Gabriel Ibitoye to score his first try for the club after joining in the summer from the Tel Aviv Heat.
South Africa closed the gap to just two points eight minutes into the second half with scrum half Grant Williams putting big loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu through a gap with an inside pass to see him evade the tackle of Max Lahiff and score. However Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed a sitter of a conversion and Bristol never looked back.
Ten minutes later the English side were out of sight after a 47m penalty from Sheedy before stunning hands from Sam Bedlow put Morahan through a gap and moments later Yann Thomas powered over from close range for a hugely popular score from the man who grew up a stone’s throw from this stadium.
Sheedy added the conversion and a penalty to make it 26-11 meaning the final try from Sikhumbuzo Notshe, who reacted first to the ball spilling out of the back of a Bristol scrum, was nothing more than a consolation score.
Much like in Limerick last week when Munster toppled this South African touring side as well, the stadium erupted at the final whistle in BS3. And Batley is right - moments like this are why we love rugby.
Bristol Bears: 15. Luke Morahan, 14. Deago Bailey, 13. Piers O’Conor, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Will Porter; 1. Yann Thomas, 2. Bryan Byrne, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. Joe Joyce (c), 5. Joe Batley, 6. Magnus Bradbury, 7. Jake Heenan, 8. Fitz Harding.
Replacements: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. Jonathan Benz-Salomon, 19. John Hawkins, 20. Sam Lewis, 21. Andy Uren, 22. Joe Jenkins, 23. Rich Lane.
South Africa ‘A’: 15 – Gianni Lombard (Emirates Lions), 14 – Suleiman Hartzenberg (DHL Stormers), 13 – Henco van Wyk (Emirates Lions), 12 – Cornal Hendricks* (Vodacom Bulls), 11 – Leolin Zas (DHL Stormers), 10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), 9 – Grant Williams* (Cell C Sharks), 8 – Jean-Luc du Preez* (Sale Sharks), 7 – Elrigh Louw* (Vodacom Bulls), 6 – Marco van Staden* (Vodacom Bulls), 5 – Ruan Nortje* (Vodacom Bulls), 4 – Jason Jenkins* (Leinster), 3 – Thomas du Toit* (captain, Cell C Sharks), 2 – Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers), 1 – Ntuthuko Mchunu* (Cell C Sharks)
Replacements: 16 – JJ Kotze (DHL Stormers), 17 – Simphiwe Matanzima (Vodacom Bulls), 18 – Mornay Smith (Vodacom Bulls), 19 – Dan du Preez* (Sale Sharks), 20 – Sikhumbuzo Notshe* (Cell C Sharks), 21 – Phepsi Buthelezi (Cell C Sharks), 22 – Sanele Nohamba (Emirates Lions), 23 – Johan Goosen* (Vodacom Bulls)
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Rhys Jones (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)
