Bristol Rugby 42-17 London Scottish
An injury-ravaged London Scottish conceded six tries as they were well beaten by unbeaten table-toppers Bristol at Ashton Gate last night.
Bristol’s victory never looked in doubt as they stormed into a 21-0 lead in 26 minutes as Scottish gave away two penalty tries in quick succession.
Miles Mantella did score two tries for Scottish before the break and Matt Heeks scored one after, but the damage had already been done.
Scottish coach Peter Richards was not too disheartened though.
He said: “We couldn’t live with their physicality in the forward pack.
“But on the whole our performance was outstanding.
“If we play with that intensity against other teams I have no doubt we’ll come out on top.
“Bristol have British Lions and international players and that showed.”
Looking forward to next week against Plymouth, Richards said: “It’s our last league game for four weeks and we want to finish on a high at home.
“We’ve been unbeaten in the league so far and want to get back to winning ways.”
Auguy Slowik’s try gave Bristol the lead in the early minutes of the match, catching the London Scottish defence short with a three-man overlap.
The Exiles’ makeshift defence was their downfall and Bristol scored another two tries, including a debut touchdown from Jack Lam as sloppy Scottish play gave away two penalty tries.
Exiles’ winger Mantella was moved to outside centre for the game but still managed two tries of his own, dotting the ball over the line from a 30-meter dash and a scrambled touch down in the corner before the break.
The Exiles took drastic measure to savior the match after the break by changing their entire front row.
They did restrict Bristol to just one second-half try as their captain Dwayne Peel nipped over the line for his first try in home colours .
Heeks had the final say by diving over in the corner but Scottish were well beaten.
Bristol’s director of rugby Andy Robinson was still frustrated though.
“I felt the second half was hindered by repeat infringements,” he said.
“We’re disappointed to concede three tries.”
