Bristol Bears get the better of Bath in thriller

Santiago Grondona’s first-half double powered Bristol Bears to a bonus-point win over Bath as the visitors claimed derby bragging rights at The Rec.

Bears stormed into a 26-7 lead with a brace from Argentinian Grondona on his long-awaited debut and tries from Max Malins and Benhard Janse van Rensburg.

Will Butt and Ross Molony added to Sam Harris’ first-half score to put the pressure on after the break, but Gabriel Oghre’s try made sure of the result for Pat Lam’s men before Ollie Lawrence grabbed a late bonus-point try for the home side.

Bears came out of the starting blocks quickly in the sunshine at The Rec as a free-flowing break from Gabriel Ibitoye created the space for Malins to go over in the corner for his fifth try of the season inside two minutes, converted by MacGinty.

The hosts responded with a spell of pressure that resulted in Ted Hill crossing in the corner on nine minutes, only for the TMO to rule the score out for a knock-on.

It wasn’t long before Bath had their response as Harris gathered the ball in his own half and found a gap through the wall of white shirts to get the home side on the board, with Russell adding the extras to level the scores at the end of a frantic opening spell.

Debutant Grondona made Bath pay with a stunning solo score of his own to restore Bears’ lead at the end of the first quarter, the Argentinian international weaving his way through to dive in under the posts before MacGinty added the extras.

Bears extended their advantage just before the half-hour mark with a quick-thinking tap penalty from Oghre setting up Janse van Rensburg for the visitors’ third try.

MacGinty saw his conversion attempt hit the left post but Bears were soon back on the attack and after a powerful burst from Janse van Rensburg, Grondona crashed over to double his tally for the afternoon as MacGinty made it 26-7 at the break.

Bears continued where they left off on the resumption of play as MacGinty added three more from the tee in front of the posts on 42 minutes after Bath were caught offside.

The hosts looked to find a way back into the game but were unable to take advantage of a series of penalties deep in the Bears’ 22, with Ollie Lawrence having a try ruled out for a knock on as Grondona was sent to the bin for repeated infringements.

Guy Pepper appeared to have scored for the home side on 50 minutes only to be denied again by the TMO for another knock-on in the build-up, but Bath eventually made the most of their extra man as Butt went over in the corner and Russell converted.

Bath cut the gap further before the hour mark as Russell turned provider with a jinking run to set up replacement Molony in the corner, with the extras making it 29-21.

But Bears squashed the comeback with their fifth try on 64 minutes as Oghre finished off a driving lineout maul against the 14 men of Bath after Sam Underhill was shown yellow two minutes earlier, with MacGinty extending the lead to 36-21.

Bath rescued a try bonus-point through Lawrence in the closing stages but Bears saw out the final minutes unscathed to make it two wins from three in the league.

Bath Rugby: Tries: Harris 12, Butt 55, Molony 59, Lawrence 77; Cons: Russell 13, 55, 59

Bristol Bears: Tries: Malins 2, Grondona 19, 38, Janse van Rensburg 27, Oghre 64; Pens: MacGinty 42; Cons: MacGinty 3, 20, 38, 65

Bath Rugby: Harris; de Glanville, Lawrence, Butt, McConnochie; Russell, Spencer; Obano, Annett, du Toit, Roux, Ewels, Hill, Pepper, Reid

Replacements: Dunn, van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Underhill, Schreuder, Redpath, Coetzee

Bristol Bears: Malins; Lane, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Ibitoye; MacGinty Randall; Genge, Oghre, Lahiff, Dun, Batley, Luatua, Grondona, Harding (c).

Replacements: Capon, Woolmore, Kloska, Owen, Grondona, Marmion, Jenkins, Bates