Bristol thump Gloucester to narrow gap to top four

The Prem

Bristol (33) 53

Tries: Marmion, Ravouvou 2, Harding, Penalty try, Jordan, Oghre Cons: Williams 5 Pens: Jordan 2

Gloucester (12) 12

Tries: Barton, Gwynne Cons: C Atkinson

Bristol Bears boosted their Prem play-off hopes with a convincing seven-try win over Gloucester at Ashton Gate.

Bears director of rugby Pat Lam said they "had to" beat the Cherry and Whites to have any hope of reaching the top four after two straight defeats, and his side scored with their first three entries into the visitors' 22.

Kieran Marmion dotted down from close range before two tries from Keleveti Ravouvou, a Fitz Harding score, and a penalty try gave them a bonus point and a comfortable 33-12 lead at the break.

Tom Jordan and Gabriel Oghre scored tries in a quieter second half, but the victory means Bristol, who broke the record for their highest-ever points tally against Gloucester in all competitions, are now two points off Exeter Chiefs in fourth.

Gloucester's miserable season, however, continues. They have won just twice in 13 attempts, and produced yet another leaky defensive performance.

In the opening 20 minutes of games this season, George Skivington's side have conceded 23 tries, five more than bottom side Newcastle Red Bulls.

Having conceded four early tries against Leicester in their last Prem fixture, the fact they allowed a 19-5 lead inside 16 minutes here at Ashton Gate will be a source of intense frustration for Skivington and new technical director Chris Boyd.

They showed some endeavour in attack, scoring tries through George Barton and Deian Gwynne, but the loss means they remain in eighth.

Bristol, meanwhile, showed a timely return to form. Defeat, as Lam suggested, might well have been terminal for their chances of reaching the play-offs.

However, they played with their trademark freedom in attack and solidity in defence. They scored first after just three minutes through ex-Connacht scrum-half Marmion, who sniped round the fringes of the ruck before scoring underneath the posts.

Ravouvou scored twice in quick succession, before the talismanic Harding scored from a slick tap penalty play to secure the bonus point.

A penalty try followed, with Josiah Edwards-Giraud sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on - one of three yellow cards given to Gloucester players in the first half.

Tom Jordan's breakaway try and and Oghre's rolling maul score added insult to injury for a beleaguered Gloucester side.

Bristol travel to Kingston Park next week to face Newcastle knowing their fight to finish in the top four is back on, while Gloucester will hope to secure a top-eight finish - but must improve in order to do it.

Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:

"I'm very pleased. The outcome we wanted was five points and giving away nothing. But the process of what we did today was the product of what we've been working on in the past two weeks.

"Looking at those three defeats, that wasn't us, we did a lot of reviews and one-on-ones, and we put our focus on tidying up bits that were really poor, and we looked more like ourselves.

"The leadership group talked about how we needed to be more precise, more accurate, and more decisive, and we effectively played the way we trained over the past two weeks.

"Some of those tries just came from constant pressure against a Gloucester team that were right up for it."

Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:

"The frustration there is that we didn't do anything, really. We didn't put our game on them, and Bristol beat us in most areas tonight.

"We got caught by their physicality in the first half, and that led to ill-discipline, and before you know it you've got three yellow cards in the first half.

"Against a team like Bristol, who use the space as well as they do, it's almost impossible to come back then. We were chasing our tail.

"We haven't got the balance right. There's a lot of trying to play a little bit early that is hurting us. We want to play, push it a bit and play some rugby. But we're not in a sweet spot with the balance of our game, that's for sure."

Bristol Bears: Lane; Ravouvou, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Ibitoye; Jordan, Marmion; Genge, Oghre, Kloska, Dun, Batley, Owen, Harding, Grondona.

Replacements: Thacker, Woolmore, Lahiff, Barker, Ivanishvili, Randall, Moroni, Heward.

Sin-bin: Barker (66).

Gloucester: Barton; Edwards-Giraud, Llewellyn, S Atkinson, Thorley; C Atkinson, Englefield; Bleuler, Blake, Fasogbon, Eite, Clark, Gwynne, Ludlow, Clement.

Replacements: Innard, Ruskin, Knight, Alemanno, Trenholm, Austin, Joseph, Loader.

Sin-bin: Blake (4), Atkinson (31), Edwards-Giraud (37).

Referee: Ian Tempest.