Bristol’s super sub Sam Bedlow kicks Saints into submission

By ROGER PANTING

REPLACEMENT flyhalf Sam Bedlow kicked a last-minute 45m penalty to break Northampton hearts as they went down to their 15th defeat in their last 17 matches.

Bedlow was originally selected in the starting lineup but was left on the bench after straining his groin in the warm-up with Tiff Eden promoted – only for Eden to miss with three of his four shots at goal.

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said: “Sam strained a groin and it was his kicking leg so we thought it would be better if he finished the last 20 minutes instead of starting.

“We didn't panic in the last ten minutes and we found a way to win but we started badly by making silly errors and then the rain came which made it extra hard for us.

“I am pleased we've got ten points from our first three league games as we have been sorely depleted and this will serve us in good stead to secure a top four placing at the end of the season.”

However a disjointed Bristol came perilously close to losing and they had to rely on a strong secondhalf performance from their pack and the individual efforts of Henry Purdy and Piers O'Conor to get them over the line.

Bedlow and Harry Randall provided them with much-needed inspiration from the bench as starting half-backs Andy Uren and Eden were both disappointing.

No doubt Northampton will be gutted by their manner of their defeat but this was their best effort for some time and they can take encouragement from whole-hearted contributions from David Ribbans and Nick Isiekwe up front and some clever inter-play from centres, Piers Francis and Rory Hutchinson.

Bristol should have taken a first minute lead when Eden made a neat break only for Uren to neglect players outside him and the scrum-half was swallowed up and lost a golden opportunity.

Saints soon made the Bears pay when, after strong runs from Tom Wood and Api Ratuniyarawa, Ribbans brushed aside two poor tackles to run 30 metres and score an excellent individual try.

Northampton scored a second when a clever kick ahead from James Grayson was collected by Francis, who cashed in on some indecision from Bears.

Bristol responded with a brilliantly executed threequarter move which ended with Purdy evading Matt Proctor's tackle for the third try in a breathtaking opening quarter.

Bears looked to have scored their second when Alapati Leiua crossed after Niyi Adeolokun and Nathan Hughes had been narrowly denied.

However TMO replays showed Uren had knocked on much earlier in proceedings and the try was chalked off leaving Bristol with a 14-5 deficit at the interval.

Within four minutes of the restart, Saints lost Piers Francis and Reece Marshall to failed head assessments and that was the signal for the Bristol pack to take control.

Eden kicked one penalty but missed two, so when Grayson kicked three points the game looked Northampton's to lose.

But they did so as O'Conor won the race to touch down a clever chip ahead from Randall before Bedlow held his nerve with the winner after Ehren Painter was penalised for a deliberate knock-on.