Bristol storm to top of Premiership after record victory at Leicester
First, a simple stat: Bristol notched a 10th consecutive away win in the Premiership. A new record for the league. Impressive. Second, another: they scored the most points any team have ever registered against Leicester at Welford Road, as much as any have ever scored against the Tigers anywhere in the Premiership. Impressive again, and this time beginning to hint at what went on here.
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But, really, numbers are inadequate. In an extraordinary era of attacking rugby in the Premiership, Bristol, who moved top of the table with the victory, must be ranked the most outrageous of them all. They should be listed as a national treasure. Rugby when played like this becomes an art, an entertainment that does not require any grounding in the sport to enjoy.
True, the second half did not match up to the first, but that first half, in which the Bears scored six tries for 40 points, was so otherworldly that they need not touch a rugby ball again for their status as darlings of English rugby to be established for good. They had the bonus-point fourth racked up by the half-hour mark, with Viliame Mata finishing after a brace from Gabriel Oghre and the first of a brace by Kalaveti Ravouvou.
This conjured memories of the four tries they scored in their home semi-final against Harlequins in 2021.
On that occasion they were blown away by Quins’ subsequent comeback
, one of the most extraordinary matches the Premiership has ever seen. This time, they merely raised their level further for two more tries before the break and a 40-12 lead.No insane comebacks here, though. Leicester did add to Ollie Hassell-Collins’s tries in the first quarter, when Freddie Steward scored their third 10 minutes into the second half, but the brilliant Benhard Janse van Rensburg charged down Hassell-Collins to score on the hour, before Ravouvou claimed his second in the last 10 minutes with a mere 85-metre run to the line.
The Tigers did at least come away with a bonus point of their own, after Josh Bassett went over at the death, but points become almost irrelevant next to this sort of rugby. Bristol are defying the rest of English rugby to dare to play as they do. Long may it continue.