Rugby / Bristol Bears
Bears fall to narrow defeat at home to Sale
Bristol Bears players stood in the shape of a heart to remember John Pullin on Friday evening.
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Under the floodlights of Ashton Gate, the current crop paid tribute to the club legend, who captained England and played 298 times for Bristol.
is needed now More than ever
Pullin, who has been described as one of the game’s greatest ever hookers, also toured with the Lions and was also the only English player involved in Gareth Edwards’ famous try for the Barbarians against New Zealand in 1973.
It was fitting then that it was Bears hooker Bryan Byrne who scored the first try of the match against Sale Sharks, his second in two games following Bristol’s demolition of Bath.
This match between first and third in the Premiership could not have been more different though to that one, with Sale winning 20-13 thanks to a late try from Luke James
Bristol were strangely flat throughout the 80 minutes and looked a different side from some of their other recent wins as they missed many of their star players through injuries and international duty.
Eight of Bristol’s points came from the steady boot of Ioan Lloyd and there was some magic from hand from the young Welsh wizard as well:
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Until he was surprisingly substituted with 25 minutes to go, South African World Cup winner Faf de Klerk was often controlling proceedings from scrum-half, with the day’s co-captain John Afoa causing a nuisance of himself within the scrum.
Steven Luatua was pulled out late from the starting lineup with a calf injury, meaning that Siale Piutau and Afoa were co-captains on Friday.
There was also bad news before kick-up as Pat Lam revealed that Semi Radradra would be out of action for seven weeks with a knee injury.
Not a game for the history books, with Bristol needing to regroup before travelling the short distance to Kingsholm to face Gloucester next Friday.
Main photo: JMP
Read more: Bristol batter Bath in record-breaking win
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