Bristol off to a flyer
By Paul Higham
Last Updated: 24/09/24 3:32am
Bristol got their season off to a flying start with a 41-11 victory at Worcester.
Guinness Premiership, Sixways, Saturday September 2, 15.00
Bristol got their Guinness Premiership season off to a flying start with a 41-11 victory at Worcester.The visitors outscored their hosts five tries to one, with Lee Robinson bagging two of those, while Jason Strange added four penalties and two conversions.
Both sides are expected to struggle this season but Bristol got the upper hand on The Warriors for the first time in seven years.
The game was marred when Worcester's Samoan centre Dale Rasmussen had to be carried off on a stretcher near the end after clashing heads with Bristol's Josh Taumalolo.
Bristol took the lead early with two strange penalties, although Shane Drahm answered for Worcester with a penalty of his own.
Former Wales lock Gareth Llewellyn grabbed the first try of the game as Bristol made their dominance count, and Strange added the extras for a 13-3 lead.
Drahm kicked another penalty but Robinson bagged his first try when galloping on to Shaun Perry's chip over the Worcester defence.
Second row Phil Murphy scored Worcester's only try of the match two minutes before the interval, but Drahm missed the conversion to see the hosts still behind 18-11.
Strange missed two penalties in the second half as Warriors prop Chris Horsman was sin-binned for taking Llewellyn out at the lineout.
Bristol were also down to 14 men minutes later when Salter was carded for persistent infringement.
Strange added two penalties before Robinson added his second try after a fine back line movement from the visitors.
Bristol bagged the bonus point as Chris Morgan celebrated his league debut to run in from 30 metres after intercepting a long pass.
Perry then added the gloss on the scoreline by collecting Bristol's fifth try as the visitors hit the ground running this season.