Bristol survive scare but Newcastle off the mark in Prem as Spencer seals bonus | Prem Rugby

In the end Bristol had too much. A display of equal parts grit and skill by Newcastle threatened a huge festive upset in the freezing-cold south-west, but two tries by the elusive Louis Rees-Zammit and some classically fluent attacking by Pat Lam’s buoyant team eventually enabled them to overpower their spirited visitors.

After the Bears ruined Harlequins’ Christmas at Twickenham last weekend, sticking 40 points on the Londoners in Big Game 17, they were widely expected to ease to victory against the Prem’s bottom side, who were yet to muster even a bonus point after seven matches. The question seemed to be not if Bristol would win, rather by how many.

But the work Newcastle are doing in training under the head coach, Alan Dickens, now assisted by the former Wales international Stephen Jones, is beginning to bear fruit. They are at least on the board with an attacking bonus point for scoring four well-worked tries, including a double for the dangerous Oli Spencer. Bristol eventually scored six in response but were made to work much harder than last week at Twickenham.

Newcastle were impressive in every facet of the game, particularly in the first half, with the prop Murray McCallum crashing over to open the scoring on seven minutes. Spencer’s sensational diving score in the corner, evading the attention of Kalaveti Ravouvou, made it 10-0 and an industrious start by Dickens’ side had dampened the home fans’ festive spirits.

After recent talk about excessive kicking it was pleasing to see Rees-Zammit, the Bears full-back, frequently sprinting from deep with ball in hand like a world-class NFL running back. Bristol – suddenly but briefly – began to hit the right notes in attack. Rees-Zammit ran through a yawning gap in Newcastle’s defence after 20 minutes, scoring Bristol’s first try, and then fed the Argentina centre Matías Moroni, who arrowed over the line, before Tom Jordan’s conversion took Lam’s side into the lead.

No one would had expected the Red Bulls to lead at half-time but Ollie Leatherbarrow’s excellent, muscular score after a fine strike move involving Elliott Obatoyinbo got them over the gain-line in the opposition 22, and it turned out to be a five-point lead at the break.

Brett Connon added a penalty for Newcastle soon after half-time, stretching the lead to eight, but Bristol soon tore down the right wing, offloading as they went, and Noah Heward finished off a slick score to reduce the deficit to three.

Newcastle had faded badly in the round-seven defeat by Bath but if Bristol hoped the same would happen here they were initially disappointed. Sammy Arnold burst through the defensive line with a driving midfield run in midfield and they had the numbers on the left for Spencer to run in his second try.

No sooner had Newcastle created a 10-point cushion than Ellis Genge was haring into their 22, creating field position for Ravouvou to score on the left. The conversion was missed but it barely mattered: Rees-Zammit cut inside after a fizzing pass by Moroni, leaving Newcastle defenders for dead, and when Gabriel Oghre was shoved over and James Williams converted, it was a nine-point lead for Bristol.

The Bears lock Joe Batley was sent off with 14 minutes left for a brutal clear-out and Ravouvou was sent to the sin-bin inside the final five minutes for a deliberate knock-on, as Newcastle threatened to make it a nervous finish. A knock-on by Cameron Hutchison ended up costing the Red Bulls a second bonus point, one they would have richly deserved.