Easy for Clermont as Bears stumble

By TOM BRADSHAW

Bristol ………………………….. 26pts

Tries: Randall 34, Radradra 38

Conversions: MacGinty 35, 39

Penalties: MacGinty 11, 18, 49, 78

Clermont……………………… 33pts

Tries: Lavanini 24, Penaud 27, 71; Moala 40

Conversions: Belleau 25, 28

Penalty: Belleau 14, 43, 57

Unstoppable: Damian Penaud steps through to score his first try Below: Semi Radradra scores for Bristol

PICTURES: Getty Images

PAT Lam cut a stoical figure after seeing his side surrender their place in the Challenge Cup by conceding three perplexingly soft tries.

Bristol recent rich vein of home form was ended by a Clermont side who fronted up in the wet conditions and who picked off their opportunities.

The softest try of all secured victory for Clermont, with Damian Penaud able to claim his second of the evening when Siva Naulago failed to dot down a bobbling ball in the in-goal area.

Penaud, the France winger, had earlier been allowed to open his account with an unchallenged scamper from the back of a ruck, and Bristol's failure to deal with a restart just before half time had allowed the Top 14 side to swap ends in front.

“These sort of mistakes happen, it's sport,” said Lam, Bristol's director of rugby. “The first person who's upset about it is the player. He (Siva) thought it was going to bounce out, it didn't. We're all human, we make mistakes and the people who hurt the most are those who make them.

“With the conditions, whoever was going to play down the right end was going to win it. We coughed up ball too easily at times.

“We got back within a try and I was proud of our effort at the end, but we've only got ourselves to blame. There were some soft tries that we conceded.”

Bristol's big guns failed to fire and it was a stuttering performance in which the home side struggled to piece together coherent attacking phases.

Semi Radradra could have played his final game for the club after pulling a hamstring, but Lam is hopeful the Fijian will still feature in the Premiership run-in.

A humungous scrum by the French side in the seventh minute was a ferocious statement of intent, with the Bristol tight five splintered and demolished.

AJ MacGinty and Anthony Belleau exchanged early penalties as the hosts took a 6-3 lead. But it was the French side that made the more purposeful sorties into the opposition 22 and Argentina lock Tomas Lavanini burrowed over from short range.

It was swiftly followed by Penaud's first – afleetfooted individual effort dripping with the sort of attacking guile that the winger displayed for France during the Six Nations, but still Bristol made it far too easy for him.

Penaud scooped the ball up from the back of a ruck and got past Chris Vui's uncertain challenge with little more than a shrug, before using his speed to loopingly accelerate away from the final line of defence.

On the half-hour mark Clermont captain Fritz Lee was sin-binned for a high challenge on Jimmy Williams, and the Bears had a foothold.

Harry Randall opportunistically darted over from the back of a ruck, and then Williams beat three defenders in a congested midfield before releasing Radradra for the Bears' second. It was to be the Fijian's last act of the game, however.

That put Bristol's noses in front but they made a dreadful mess of the restart, allowing George Moala to go over in the corner and give Clermont the lead on the stroke of half-time.

More penalties were exchanged by MacGinty and the assured Belleau in the second period as the game remained in the balance. But Naulago's misjudgment allowed Penaud to sneak in and put clear water between the sides.

MacGinty drew Bristol back to within seven points with a penalty and Bristol pressed to tie things up in the final seconds, but Clermont held on. Their vocal changing room celebrations will have made for tough listening for Bristol ears.