Gallagher Premiership: Bristol Bears rout Bath 48-3 to take derby spoils

Bryan Byrne celebrates the try which clinched the bonus point for Bristol

Two tries from Bryan Byrne helped set Bristol Bears on their way to their biggest-ever win in the Gallagher Premiership with a 48-3 win in Friday's derby with Bath.

Five tries before half-time put the Bears firmly in control at the break, with hooker Byrne's double capping a devastating first 40 minutes from the home side which began with an early Luke Morahan score and was followed by Charles Piutau and Andy Uren crossing.

Bath's cause was not helped by losing skipper Josh McNally, Elliott Stooke and Ruaridh McConnochie to injury in the first half, nor Rhys Priestland being sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on.

Bristol carried on the second half at Ashton Gate where they left off in the first as Semi Radradra broke clear to finish and their scoring was rounded off with a penalty try which saw Josh Bayliss sin-binned too, compounding a miserable West Country showdown for Bath.

Stuart Hooper's men's preparations for the Premiership resumption were hit by them having to close their training ground after being told last week they were the source of 19 positive Covid-19 tests, only for the league's testing company to realise a mistake had been made, and the actual figure in Bath's camp was one.

The disruption clearly affected them, though, and they were off the pace mentally and physically as Bristol showed no mercy with a ruthless display that illustrated an enormous gulf in class.

Andy Uren played a starring role for Bristol as they won the derby clash

Fly-half Priestland's first-half penalty proved their solitary scoring effort, while opposite number Ioan Lloyd landed four conversions and a penalty to help the Bears to their fifth-straight win in all competitions.

Bristol showed six changes from the side that beat champions Exeter last time out, with man of the match Uren and wing Henry Purdy among those handed starts, while absentees included England prop Kyle Sinckler because of a two-match ban, plus England squad members Max Malins, Harry Randall and Ben Earl.

Bath were without England quartet Anthony Watson, Beno Obano, Will Stuart and Charlie Ewels ahead of the Guinness Six Nations, with McNally taking over captaincy duties from Ewels and Miles Reid replacing injured flanker Sam Underhill.

Chris Vui wins a line-out for Bristol in the win over Bath

Bristol, their confidence high following victory over reigning champions Exeter Chiefs three weeks ago, went ahead after just five minutes. Bath had launched a couple of promising attacks, but the Bears forwards then took charge, driving a lineout to within inches of the opposition line before switching play, and Lloyd threw out a long scoring pass to Morahan.

And Bristol doubled their advantage three minutes later when another Lloyd pass this time sent centre Piers O'Conor clear, and Morahan provided an assist for Piutau to complete a fine move.

An unsettling start for Bath continued when both locks - McNally and Stooke - went off for head injury assessments in rapid succession, and it meant Wales No. 8 Taulupe Faletau making an early appearance off the bench.

Semi Radradra was among the try-scorers for Bristol against Bath

Neither rejoined the action, and although Priestland opened Bath's account, it was quickly cancelled out by a Lloyd strike. It was no surprise when dominant Bristol extended their lead 11 minutes before half-time, and it was another brilliant finish, this time from scrum-half Uren, with Lloyd's conversion opening up a 17-point advantage.

Bristol had eased effortlessly through the gears, and there was more pain to come for Bath after Priestland collected a yellow card. Byrne proved the beneficiary of relentless work by the Bristol pack, touching down twice in five minutes and condemning Bath to a 34-3 interval deficit.

The home side moved past 40 points within two minutes of the restart thanks to a stunning 65-metre solo effort by Radradra, then referee Wayne Barnes awarded them a penalty try followed by Bayliss becoming Bath's second player to be shown a yellow card.

Bath dug deep during the closing stages to try and prevent further damage, but they could take a long time to recover from what was an awful night in every department.