Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam has bemoaned the absence of TMO in a typically feisty West Country derby, which produced one red card and two yellows and could lead to further disciplinary intervention by the RFU.
Bears opened up the 2022/23 season with a narrow and thrilling 31-29 triumph over their South West neighbours but having outscored Bath by five tries to two, the margin of victory could and should have been greater.
A large part of that was down to the niggly aspect of the game and the penalty count (21 in total, with Bristol conceding 12), as 19 of Bath’s points from the boot of Piers Francis, and Lam admitted his side got dragged into a slow attritional contest at times, particularly after the break.
