Hobbo at the charge

By Ian Todd
September 22 2013

Bristol tried so hard to throw the opening home fixture of the season away.  They dominated territory and possession for large swathes of the game and yet allowed London Scottish to lead at the end of the second half and get within a few points in the second.  Only a fine performance from the forwards in the tight enabled Bristol to come away with a bonus point win that was far from convincing.

The visitors kicked of the game in overcast but surprisingly warm conditions.   Bristol were quickly into their stride with a good break from Marco Mama and a nice jinking move from Adrian Jarvis that got Bristol moving well, only for a knock-on to halt the momentum.  The first scrum at the Memorial Ground under the ‘new’ rules took an absolute age to get set and probably took up even more time than it would under the old laws.  It ended up as a free kick to Bristol which was quickly taken and Scottish were penalise as they attempted to get organised.  Jarvis went for touch and the Bristol maul from the lineout was clearly pulled down by a Scottish player.  But that wasn’t how the referee saw it and it was another scrum, but this time Bristol were mysteriously penalised.  However Bristol claimed the Exiles’ lineout (and kudos to whoever has been coaching the lineout because it was really good today, none lost and a couple stolen).  Another excellent break from Jarvis who popped the ball to Jason Hobson, who also made good ground.  The visitors were penalised again.  Bristol tried to drive over from the lineout but were once again wrongly penalised right on the line.

The pressure was all from Bristol, with Scottish pinned back in their half, scarcely able even to get out of their 22.  Somehow they managed to cling on.  Their one attack broke down with the ball lost forward into Bristol hands, but the referee called play back for a forward pass (by Scottish) with no attempt at playing the advantage.  Eventually the pressure had to tell when the ball was whipped along the backline from right to left and there was suddenly a 3 to 2 overlap out wide.  Luke Eves offloaded to Mama who decide to go for the line himself with a man outside.  Fortunately for him he just managed to make it over for a converted try that took Bristol into a thoroughly deserved 7 – 0 lead with the best part of half an hour played.

Now, typically you would expect Bristol to concede a cheap penalty after such effort.  Well this time you would be wrong.  Instead there was a shocking breakdown in the Bristol play that handed Scottish free ball with the hosts at sixes-and-sevens.  Scottish took full advantage of the terrible Bristol error with Mantella touching down a simple try that was started inside his own half.  The conversion was well struck and suddenly it was 7 – all, completely against the run of play.  Things went from bad to worse as Bristol continued to play in an incredibly slack manner and Millar was given all the time in the world for a drop-goal effort that sailed over for a 7 – 10 lead on half time.

Rarely can Bristol have dominated a half so completely in terms of territory and possession.  And yet the scoreboard indicated otherwise.  The second half commenced in much the same way as the first had ended.  Appalling defending allowed Millar to surge through a gaping hole and powder-puff ‘tackling’.  The defence just managed to get itself organised at the last instant just short of the line.  The hosts were very fortunate to have escaped without conceding another try.

Bristol were awarded the scrum and Scottish continued to struggle at the set piece and were penalised to let Bristol clear the danger.  The lineout continued to be dominant and the catch and drive was well executed as Bristol took play back into the visitors’ half.  Bristol seemed to have wrested back the initiative and strung together several phases of good play, without ever quite managing to land the killer blow.  Finally a succession of penalties went Bristol’s way and as yet another Bristol scrum crushed the opposition the referee’s patience snapped and he trotted beneath the posts for a penalty try.  The conversion took Bristol in front at 14 – 10.

With the direct forward-oriented approach clearly bearing fruit, Bristol stuck to the direct approach.  An unstoppable driving maul from a catch-and-drive smashed its way over the line and James Merriman claimed the honours out wide on the left.  Jarvis converted superbly to take Bristol further ahead at 21 – 10.  Now it was time to give away a cheap penalty when Scottish finally managed to get the ball into the scrum.  It was well struck by Millar and he wiped three points off the lead.

With tight play clearly the way for Bristol to stay in front, it was obviously the time to start playing aimless rugby inside the 22.  This is what Bristol did, to the amazement of the supporters (and probably the coaches).  The ball went across the line with no forward momentum at all (and it could have been kicked downfield – what were they thinking?).  Scottish rushed up and Bristol promptly coughed up the ball.  More inept defence followed and Millar was in at the corner.  The conversion attempt struck the left upright, but Scottish were right back in it at 21 – 18, despite still hardly having any possession.  Were Bristol determined to throw the game away.

Fortunately Bristol managed to tighten things up again and a rumbling drive from the pack was rewarded by a penalty that Jarvis struck cleanly to give Bristol some breathing space.  The pack were in no mood to let up on their opponents now and a disrupted Scottish scrum saw Bristol come away with the ball.  Ben Mosses took play up to the five metre line before Bristol struggled to find a way through the defence.  Bristol continued to press and at last the resistance crumbled when replacement Glen Townson hammered over for the fourth try.  Jarvis, once again, converted well for a final score of 31 – 18.