Ellis Genge the returning hero as Bristol Bears beat Bath

There was an immaculately observed minute’s silence at Ashton Gate ahead of the kick-off against Bath. Less than two minutes later, Ellis Genge opened his account for the season.

Following probably the first singing in Bristol of God Save the King – led by soprano Emily Haig – it was time to welcome Ashton Gate’s new royalty all the way from Knowle West via Leicester.

To finish a dream return to his hometown club, Genge scored a second try as he once again sprinted to the line from a tap-penalty and was then promptly substituted.

“You just get a feeling don’t you that you can’t be stopped,” Genge said after the match, before leading a rare on-pitch version of the team’s victory song, Blackbird.

Earlier, a rolling maul leading to a try for Will Capon prompted a roar in Ashton Gate that could probably be heard in Bath, who almost won the game with the last kick of the match but the drop-goal attempt drifted just wide of the left upright with Bristol winning 31-29.

This game was meant to be played on Friday evening but inexplicably was postponed as a mark of respect for the Queen for less than 24 hours. The only difference that postponement made was to the club who lost out on hundreds of thousands of pounds of revenue due to some fans not able to make the rescheduled match.

The new Premiership season burst into life as Genge raced 30 yards to the line in front of the Atyeo Stand. But the dream start did not continue and Bath could easily have headed back down the Railway Path victorious.

If Pat Lam’s men are to trust the process this season, we need to see Genge remaining on top form, a much-improved lineout and a chance for the backs to get more of the ball.

AJ MacGinty had just over ten minutes of game time at the end of this match and Bears fans will also hope that we get a chance to see much more of the US international.

Before the start of the match, the Queen’s face had beamed down on the stadium from the big screen. It was under here with five minutes to go in the second half that a mass brawl that led to the sending off of a Bath replacement, Niall Annett, and the sin-binning of Bristol’s Callum Sheedy, who vociferously protested his innocence to the fourth official on the touchline.

The second half had much less of the drama until the last few seconds, with Bears owner Steve Lansdown celebrating with the players on the pitch after the final whistle and new chief exec Tom Tainton also joining in the circle as returning hero Genge led the victory song.

Main photo: JMP

Read next:

• ‘Bristol vs Bath is one of the highlights of the West Country calendar’
• Bristol pays tribute to the Queen
• Ellis Genge on growing up in Knowle West and how rugby saved him from prison
• First gorillas, then Gromits and now unicorns

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