Match Report: Second-half rout sees Bristol reach Round of 16
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Bristol Bears scored six second-half tries as they won 34-11 at Zebre Parma on Saturday to seal their progression to the EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16 with a game to spare.
Harry Thacker grabbed a hat-trick of scores at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi along with further efforts from Ioan Lloyd, Fitz Harding and Magnus Bradbury.
Zebre led at the break thanks to two Tiff Eden penalties, but the Italian outfit were undone following the restart.
Thacker notched his first on 43 minutes before Lloyd went over nine minutes later, though Zebre hit back through Simone Gesi’s score on the hour mark.
No. of tries:
0️⃣ First-Half
2️⃣ First 10 minutes of the Second-Half @BristolBears have gone over twice, this match is heating up… 🔥
Watch LIVE on https://t.co/cI5BzWKKwq and @FloRugby#ChallengeCupRugby pic.twitter.com/pyb9MieP43
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) January 14, 2023
But the hosts were overrun in the final 15 minutes as Thacker dotted down again before Luca Rizzoli was yellow-carded.
That opened the floodgates for Bristol as Thacker, Harding and Bradbury all crossed in the closing stages.
Fly-half Callum Sheedy had an off day for Bristol, converting only two of his side’s six tries.
Bristol host USAP on Friday as they look to conclude their Pool A campaign with a fourth straight win and secure top seeding for the knockout stage, while winless Zebre visit RC Toulon on the same day.
