A hat-trick of tries from Harry Thacker helped Bristol Bears to a 29-0 victory away at Bath Rugby in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Wednesday night.
Thacker, who scored all his tries as the back of driving mauls from close-range lineouts, was joined on the scoreboard by wingers Deago Bailey and Henry Purdy, with AJ MacGinty converting just one of his four attempts and James Williams knocking over the final conversion.
A less experienced Bath side failed to trouble the scorers as Bristol recorded a first clean sheet away against the Blue, Black and White since 1962.
READ MORE: Bath Rugby 0-29 Bristol Bears LIVE: Highlights and reaction from the Premiership Rugby Cup
Post-match, Bears director of rugby Pat Lam said: "I think the zero is the thing we are most pleased about, it has been a long time since we have done that, there were a few chances for Bath at the end but the guys stepped up to stop them.
"All in all it was a good hit out for guys who haven't played much rugby which was the idea of it."
South West rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual displays from the Bristol Bears players.
15. Rich Lane - 7
The full back put the ball on a plate for Bailey to score his try with a delicious flat wide pass. A couple of clearance kicks went straight out when they needed to bounce to give away large sways of territory.
14. Deago Bailey - 8
The winger, who impressed on Saturday in Bristol’s friendly against Exeter Chiefs, did everything to a high level, taking his try superbly as he stepped inside the final attempted tackle to dot down and finish the wrap around move.
But it was his impressive kick chasing and then dominant tackles which will please Pat Lam just as much as the finishing.
13. Jack Bates - 6
The outside centre had a could of occasions to break on the outside arc but was generally well contained by his opposite number Jonathan Joseph.
12. Ioan Lloyd - 5
The young Welshman was disappointingly quiet with ball in hand with very little opportunities to show his magical footwork. The jury is still out on him as an inside centre however he has been struggling with a number of injury niggles and looks to be in need of getting a run of games under his belt.
11. Henry Purdy - 8
The winger repeatedly made extra yards he had no right too, with his awkward hop of a step elusive enough to see Bath tacklers slip off him to allow him to make gains after the initial contact.
Showed a real sharpness to intercept a pass from Bath hooker John Stewart and then good speed to race in from 25m out and beat the covering defenders.
10. AJ MacGinty - 7
Captaining the club for the first time having joined Bristol from Sale Sharks this summer, the fly-half looked sparky in attack with the ball in hand as he wove through the Bath defence on a couple of occasions.
Narrowly off target from the tee on three of his four conversion attempts which I understand is one of the reasons Callum Sheedy has the edge over the USA international in the big games.
9. Tom Whiteley - 5
Getting back in the saddle just five days after being hauled off against Gloucester after half an hour on the pitch at Kingsholm was potentially the best possible thing for the scrum-half as he had an opportunity to prove himself again. Sadly though he won’t have done himself too many favours with a hesitancy and slowness at the breakdown hurting Bristol’s attack and a cause of great frustration to the Bears coaches who were within earshot of me at the Rec.
1. Yann Thomas - 6
The Bristol scrum struggled at times at the Rec which will be a disappointment as Thomas is set to up his game time again over the Autumn with Ellis Genge away with England. Did make a lovely break only to knock the ball on after getting blindsided by Bath fly-half Sam Harris.
2. Harry Thacker - 8
The hooker will lay claim to the headlines with a hat-trick of tries, but all of those were thanks to a comfy chariot ride to the line from the maul. It was more his explosive running in open-play that impressed, with only a brilliant recovery tackle from Max Wright denying him a try after some wonderful handling from the Bears.
3. Max Lahiff - 7
The tighthead has clearly been taking tips from Ellis Genge when it comes to carrying as he went careering through a gap in midfield to eat up 25m of wet turf at his former club. A clean pass from Joe Batley at the next phase and Bristol would have been over for another try but he knocked on under the pressure.
4. Ed Holmes - 7
The athletic second row had a fine game as he was a prime jumper in the lineout and threatened with ball in hand.
5. Joe Batley - 7
The second-row continues to get up to speed having re-joined the club from Worcester earlier this month and is improving with every game. His handling and offload ability gives Bristol an extra threat in attack although he will be disappointed he knocked on when the Bears had a significant overlap following a break from Lahiff. Batley was also running the lineout on Wednesday night with decent success.
6. John Hawkins - 6
Bristol lost the battle of the breakdown during the course of the game with Bath winning multiple penalties for the Bears not releasing after runners got isolated, while it is certainly not all on the backrow to secure the ball at rucks, that is clearly high on the priority list,
7. Sam Lewis - 8
With talk of Bristol Bears reported to be looking at signing a number of big name Wasps backrowers, the former Worcester Warriors flanker reminded everyone of what he can do, carrying well.
Post-match director of rugby labelled Lewis’ performance as ‘outstanding.’
8. Fitz Harding - 7
Back in the Bristol backrow for the second time in six days having missed the start of the season with injury, he isn’t making those dynamic line-breaking bursts like he did when first exploding onto the scene 18 months ago but his quick handling created a couple of scoring opportunities for the Bears which went wrong further down the line.
Still getting back to his best.
Replacements:
16. Bryan Byrne - 6
17. Jake Woolmore - 7
18. George Kloska - 7
19. Morgan Eames - 6
20. Aaron Tull - 6
21. Oscar Lennon - 5
22. James Williams - 5
23. Harry Ascherl - 6
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