The weather on the drive up to Northampton for Bristol supporters was pretty awful but the rain was absent at Franklins Gardens as kick off time approached.

Bristol’s starting XV lined up as announced on Thursday although David Lemi was a late withdrawal from the replacements and Rob Higgitt took his place on the bench.



Bristol were put under immediate pressure when Northampton turned over ruck ball in midfield. Saints hammered away at the Bristol defensive line, keeping the ball for phase after phase, until Sam Harding hit a gap at pace and only had to sidestep Vaughan Going before scoring. Bruce Reihana converted for a 7-0 lead after 2 minutes.

Bristol came back from the restart and the backs moved the ball nicely from right to left without really threatening to break through. However, Northampton failed to roll away from the tackle area and Tommy Hayes landed the penalty to make the score 7-3 after 6 minutes.

However, more bad news for Bristol after 9 minutes when Jake Raulini’s box kick was too easy for Sean Lamont to gather. Carlos Spencer moved the ball to Cohen and then Clarke who cut inside and put Harding in for his second score. The Reihana conversion opened up a 14-3 gap.

The one way traffic continued when Sean Marsden was penalised as Bristol tried to run the ball out of defence and the Bristol defence had to work overtime to keep out a 5 metre lineout and subsequent phases of play.

Bristol moved downfield when Tommy Hayes won a penalty competing at the ruck area and Mark Denney carved through the midfield after good lineout ball but the move ground to a halt when Going’s pass to Lee Robinson was ruled forward.

Bristol won a penalty at the ensuing scrum and Hayes went for goal from the Saints’ 10 metre line. The kick was wide on the right and stayed just right of the posts.

Bristol were enjoying their best spell but it all counted for nothing when Rauluni went the wrong way from a ruck and his half charged down kick was straight down Carlos Spencer’s throat and the fly half only had to step past Rauluni and outpace Ollie Hodge to score from 60 metres. 19-3 after 26 minutes.

Bristol gathered the restart and Hayes jinked and spun well and Mark Denney took the ball on well but Hayes’ grubber intended for Lee Robinson was grounded by Mark Robinson for a drop out.

Bristol had a chance on 29 minutes to narrow the gap but Hayes penalty, again from the 10 metre line, was wide right.

Hayes, however, inspired another break on 32 minutes as he darted through a gap. The support was there but a Bristol knock on in the Saints’ 22 meant that the chance was gone.

Saints ran the ball from the shadow of their posts and stretched the Bristol defence to breaking point but Lee Robinson put in an important tackle and the unlikely figure of Geraint Lewis cleared.



As the first half drew to a close, a series of injury breaks disrupted play although Mark Denney got to within a couple of metres for Bristol before being bundled into touch.

Bristol had been severely stretched in the first half which was hardly surprising given the number of changes to the team and the La Manga trip. There were some positives for Bristol but the second half promised to be tough.



Both teams emerged unchanged for the second half although Saints had already been forced to use replacements John Rudd and Johnny Howard in the first half.

Bristol had an early opportunity with a catch and drive in the Saints’ 22 but the home pack held out and Manu Contepomi was penalised for holding on in midfield to stop the move.

Saints then had a similar position but Steve Thompson over threw his man in the lineout and Bristol were able to clear.

Bristol were still competing doggedly and having to defend stoutly and the third quarter passed without any further score.

Richard Hill then turned to his replacements bench and sent Alex Clarke, Neil Clarke and Danny Gray into action after 63 minutes for Mark Irish, Saul Nelson and Lee Robinson. Gray immediately took up the unfamiliar position of right wing.

Despite the reinforcements, Bristol eventually ran out of tacklers as referee Darriere played advantage and Mark Robinson was able to skip over after a period of prolonged pressure. Reihana converted for 26-3.

Martin Rospide was then given a rare outing in place of Wayne Thompson with 15 minutes to go.

However, the Northampton confidence had returned and Saints attacked from deep in the form of Johnny Howard and Ben Cohen took a nice inside line to score behind the posts. Reihana again converted to make the score 33-3 after 70 minutes.

The restart didn’t go 10 metres and Saints by now were rampant. They kept the ball through several phases and Bristol again ran out of tacklers as Ben Cohen crossed unopposed. Reihana added the extras for 40-3.

A Spencer cross kick then found Johnny Howard in full flight on the right wing as Danny Gray was caught too far infield and the replacement scrum half eluded Gray’s despairing dive and dived over in the corner. Reihana missed for once to keep the score at 45-3 after 75 minutes.

Bristol did at least get a consolation after 79 minutes when forwards and backs combined well to create an overlap on the left and Neil Clark put Mariano Sambucetti in the corner for the score. 45-8.

To their credit, Bristol did compete well but there was an understandable lack of cohesion in the early stages.

Northampton opened up an early gap but Bristol stuck at it until the flood gates opened in the final quarter.

Bristol did stick to their principles of running rugby but they were up against a well drilled and confident Saints team today and the better team were clear winners.


Bristol lost 45-8

This article was originally posted on 16-Jan-2006, 13:31 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 16-Jan-2006, 13:33.