Bristol Bears and Australia XV fail to rise to the occasion in error-strewn draw

Bristol Bears were held to a 10-10 draw against the Australian XV at Ashton Gate on Friday night in a match which sadly failed to live up to it's billing as it was dominated by handling errors.

Benhard Janse van Rensburg bagged the Bears' only try, crashing over following a Bristol scrum early in the second half to add to an early penalty from Sam Worsley. But Australian winger, Lachlan Anderson, scored early and late for the Wallabies, levelling the score in the 80^th minute. The draw meant that captains Fitz Harding and Darcy Swain were forced to share the cup which was sponsored by mental health charity Looseheadz.

It was a shaky start for the Bears, losing the ball on a number of occasions and they were punished in the 8^th minute as Lachlan Anderson dotted down in the right corner thanks to a flat miss-pass from Issak Fines-Leleiwasa.

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The loose style to the game continued with Bristol dropping the ball deep in Australian territory on numerous occasions, coughing up try scoring opportunities. In the 38^th minute, Bristol worked their way into the opposition 22, eventually earning a penalty after an Australian infringement, which was kicked through the posts by Sam Worsley to take the score to 5-3.

With the clock deep in the red, the hosts earned another penalty in the Australian half but on this occasion Worsley kicked to the corner, giving his side a five metre lineout. Harry Thacker threw the ball and received it at the back of the Bears maul which drove towards the Wallabies line and seemed to crash over, however it was judged to have been held up, in what was the last play of the half. five-metre

Bristol started the second half with much more attacking intent, Gabriel Oghre - on in the backrow with Benjamin Grondona off for a HIA - crossed the paint in the 45^th minute, but like Thacker’s in the first half, it adjudged to be held up. However moments later the Bears did get their first try of the evening, Janse van Rensburg ran a hard line from a Bristol scrum five metres out from the Australia line, replacement scrum Oscar Lennon, who rejoined the club this week, popped the ball into the South African's hands to crash over and take the lead. Worsley converted to make the score 10-5.

After the try, the stop-start trend returned with both sides showing a frequent inability to maintain possession for any real period of time. In the 72^nd minute, Australia kicked behind and forced Siva Naulago to carry over his own line gifting the Wallabies a five metre scrum. Following the scrum, the visitors went wide using an overlap on the left wing but a Naulago deliberate knock-on stunted their progress.

The winger was sent to the sin bin and play continued yet after a couple of phases Rory Scott lost the ball forward in a double tackle, returning possession to the Bears. However the resistance eventually gave way as Australia applied more pressure to the Bristol line, forcing the hosts to collapse two driving mauls; from the second the ball came out to the backs, outside centre Josh Flook put a pinpoint kick into the path of Anderson to take on the full to score his second try, again in the right corner.

With the last kick of the game, Flook pushed the ball past the left post, missing the conversion and locking the score at 10-10.

Bristol Bears : 15. Toby Fricker, 14. Siva Naulago, 13. Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. Sam Worsley, 9. Kieran Marmion; 1. Jake Woolmore, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Lovejoy Chawatama, 4. Joe Owen, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Jake Heenan, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Benjamin Grondona.

Replacements : 16. Gabriel Oghre, 17. Max Lahiff, 18. Sam Scott, 19. Ethan Surrey, 20. Tom Doughty, 21. Oscar Lennon, 22. Gethin O’Callaghan, 23. Jacob Cusick.

Australia XV: 15 Andy Muirhead - ACT Brumbies, 14 Lachlan Anderson - Queensland Reds, 13 Josh Flook (vc) - Queensland Reds, 12 Joey Walton - NSW Waratahs, 11 Corey Toole - ACT Brumbies, 10 Hamish Stewart - Western Force, 9 Issak Fines-Leleiwasa - Western Force; 1 Tom Lambert – NSW Waratahs, 2 Lachlan Lonergan – ACT Brumbies, 3 Rhys van Nek - ACT Brumbies, 4 Angus Blyth - Queensland Reds, 5 Darcy Swain (c) - Western Force, 6 Tom Hooper - ACT Brumbies, 7 Rory Scott - ACT Brumbies, 8 John Bryant - Queensland Reds.

Replacements: 16 Tom Horton – Western Force, 17 Harry Hoopert - Western Force, 18 Tiaan Tauakipulu – Western Force, 19 Josh Canham - Queensland Reds, 20 Luke Reimer - ACT Brumbies, 21 Ryan Lonergan - ACT Brumbies, 22 Ollie Sapsford - ACT Brumbies, 23 Jock Campbell – Queensland Reds

Referee: Craig Evans

Assistant referees: Sara Cox and George Selwood

Attendance: 15,021