Bristol Rugby - Finally Their Year?
Posted on: 25 Apr 2016With just one game left of the regular season Bristol had officially been crowned league champions. An interesting draw meant that Bedford Blues would be Bristol’s last league game on 23rd April and also their semi-final play-off opponents on 1st and 8th May, away and then home respectively. Three weeks of rugby against the same opposition could perhaps throw the boys off their game? Well, they put six tries past the Blues on Saturday on their way to a 39-6 win so hopefully not. Read what our rugby professor Lee Gitsham has to say below.
Reaching the business end of the season and it’s squeaky bum time yet again for supporters. In the last two years Bristol Rugby have made the play off final but fallen at the final hurdle despite winning the league. There is such frustration for the fans but as many agree they entered the competition knowing the rules from the start. With a heavy investment from the "White Knight" (revealed as Steve Lansdown) expectations from the Bristol faithful have been high for a number of years now.
With an impressive run of form over the last few weeks, however, and a last gasp winner from Varndell against second place Doncaster, the Bristol side are setting themselves well for the playoffs with a string of wins. Veteran centre Jack Tovey described the players as having “a determined spirit in the camp ahead of the final game of the regular season.”
Could it be possible to even consider another season of failure? There have been a few drawbacks this season including a number of injuries within the squad along with players missing the early part of the season due to the Rugby World Cup. These players are now back and most are returning to fitness. Then there was the Borthwick affair…
Steve Borthwick joined the club as forwards coach after the World Cup and then left to take up an England coaching role after just 43 days. But despite these disruptions Bristol have still managed to win the league. Although it all comes down to the two-legged finals played on May 18th and 25th.
They have a strong attacking line up including the Premiership’s all time top try scorer in Tom Varndell. There are also several current and past internationals including the Welsh trio of Matt Morgan, Gavin Henson and Ian Evans all of which are potential game winners. But even taking this into account it all seems to go terribly wrong come crunch time. Let's hope that this year is Bristol Rugby's year and the city can look forward to derby matches next season against Bath, Exeter and Gloucester! Come on the Briz!
**You can get your hands on general sale tickets for the play-off semi-final right here**
For all the info you need on Bristol Rugby visit www.bristolrugby.co.uk and keep up to date with them on Facebook and Twitter. There's even Bristol Rugby TV over on YouTube!
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
