Bath Rugby’s power game was the deciding factor in the PREM Rugby Cup tie at Ashton Gate Stadium, according to Bristol Bears’ head of academy John Barnes.
Bath Rugby overwhelmed Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate Stadium in PREM Rugby Cup Round 3 | Photo © Richard Briggs
The Blue, Black & White routed the injury-ravaged hosts 49-19 in the Round 3 game on Friday 31st October – and Barnes acknowledged the visitors’ strengths.
At his post-match press conference, Barnes – taking charge in the absence of director of rugby Pat Lam, who was with the Barbarians as coach – said: “Tough game. When we saw the [Bath] squad come out, we knew it was going to be a tough ask.
“I think the game is small margins. Bath were brilliant at taking their chances. I think every time they got into our 22 they executed really well with their power game, which is what Bath’s about and that’s why they’re champions.
“So we were disappointed we didn’t take some of our chances just to stay in the game.
“I think it’s not about going to win it necessarily, but to stay in the game and stay within a score or two.
“Once they got two or three scores ahead, it was easy in the weather just to kick it long and just play simple stuff and we were chasing the bonus point and of course we didn’t get that either.
“But some of the young lads stepped up. It’s a tough ask for some of the players. Victor Worsnip, debut at 18 against someone like Chris Harris is… but it’s a learning curve for him and he’s got a long career ahead of him, and the same for others.
“Pleased for some of these youngsters to get their debut finally after a long pre-season but disappointed with the result overall.
“It was just good to see some of the academy boys out there. Great to see 14,000 [spectators] here and credit to the supporters coming out in this weather for a PREM Cup game, I thought it was brilliant.
“So the experiences were tough to take for some of the boys for the next few days, but I think they’ll reflect on it with positivity next week.
“Both teams scored driving line-outs, Bath got a couple more. What the weather does is dictate how the game’s played and it wasn’t the best spectacle, so, again, fair play to 14,000 coming to watch. I think the scrum was good from our boys.
“Disappointing to lose players early on [to injury], that was a bit of disruption as well. Didn’t help we were on and off with a few boys but that’s the game and they lost a few as well.”
One of the Bears’ three tries came from Wales international scrum-half Ellis Bevan, who arrived off the bench to make his debut for the club.
Barnes said: “He’s come in this week [from Cardiff Rugby] and he’s tried to pick up stuff, but you can see he’s an international rugby player.
“He picked stuff up quickly and he’s thrown in at the deep end and we knew he had to play 40 minutes because of Sam Wolstenholme’s first game back from injury.
“Apart from the first kick, I think he had a pretty good 39 minutes. So fair play to him. He’s with us for three weeks now, and he’s fitted in seamlessly.”
