Fans finally back in Ashton Gate watch Bristol beat Gloucester

After a wait of 435 days to return to Ashton Gate to watch live rugby, Bristol Bears fans were treated to a victory against West Country rivals Gloucester in a match with enough talking points to last another hundred or so days.

The busiest man wasn’t on the pitch or in the stands, however, but in a truck in the stadium car park.

Television match official Rowan Kitt ruled out an astonishing five tries for the home side and also assisted in the sending off of Gloucester’s Matias Alemanno.

Kyle Sinckler and Semi Radradra, both playing in front of Bristol fans for the first time, were among the Bristol players who thought they had scored only to be denied by the TMO.

The 3,128 fans inside Ashton Gate were certainly not treated to a classic game of rugby, which Bristol won by 39 points to seven, but there will be more of them in BS3 as the regular season comes to a conclusion, including perhaps double this number for what is looking increasingly like a home semi-final for Pat Lam’s men.

A volunteer standing at one entrance to the South Stand had one of the toughest jobs of the evening. “Are you here for a vaccination or the rugby?” he asked many a visitor, as Covid jabs continued unabated in the concourse.

The first roars of the night came when Callum Sheedy slotted home two penalties.

After the first time that Bristol fans had seen Radradra in full flight, Sinckler crossed the line only to be adjudged after repeated video replays to have not grounded the ball.

The fourth official, Rowan Kitt, was called into action again almost immediately, with Gloucester’s Matias Alemanno shown the red card for a tackle on Steve Luatua which saw the Bristol captain land on his head.

Andy Uren should have scored Bristol’s first try after dodging and weaving to the line from the base of a scrum, but the ball was knocked from his hands as he was about to touch it down.

Radradra then crossed the line but this time it was an easier job for the fourth official to adjudge that the ball had been held up.

But then, with Val Rapava-Ruskin having been shown a yellow card meaning that Gloucester were down to just 13 players, Max Malins finally scored Bristol’s first try of the evening after collecting a behind-the-back pass from Sheedy.

Bristol’s Welsh wizard then thought he had scored a try, then so did Bristol-born Andy Uren, but in what was swiftly turning into a habit, both were ruled out for infringements.

With just three minutes left in the first half, Gloucester scored their first try as Santiago Carreras dived over the line, narrowly avoiding getting pushed into touch by Malins.

The crowd were left holding their heads in their hands at the end of the half, as Charles Piatau inexplicably stopped after crossing the whitewash following a break down the left wing by Luke Morahan.

As he stopped, the ball was hit out of his hands, leaving him hitting the ground in frustration and giving Bristol fans yet another moment to talk about at half-time.

The second half burst into life after eight minutes with a try for Alapati Leiua. But yes, that one was also ruled out by the TMO for a forward pass.

Charles Piatau made up for his first half mistake, profiting from a break by Chris Vui and crossing the line following a tidy sidestep.

Piatau looked like he had scored a second only for the TMO to spot a a knock-on from Earl at the base of the scrum in the build-up; and it was then Earl who powered through two Gloucester players to reach the line.

Sheedy could finally laugh as he was able to take a rare conversion, having readied himself following many of the five tries that were disallowed.

Chants of “TMO, TMO” rang out around the ground whenever there was a break in play as the game neared an end, with Sinckler welcomed back onto the field with a huge round of applause to replace the injured John Afoa.

Nathan Hughes grabbed the bonus-point try for the Bears as he was propelled over the line in the middle of a rolling maul.

Hughes’ hair – which has a new look every matchday – was just one of the elements that fans back in the stadium could appreciate for the first time in a long time.

And it was only fitting that Radradra would finally score a try with the last play of the match, with the Bears players walking the full perimeter of the pitch after the final whistle to thank fans after their 435-day absence.

Main photo: JMP

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