Bristol Bears player ratings from Newcastle Falcons win - 'Makes the game look easy'
Bristol Bears came away from Kingston Park with a 24-3 bonus point win aginst Newcastle Falcons on Friday night to open their account in the Gallagher Premiership.
And while Pat Lam's side struggled in the first half, scoring just a single try through James WIlliams, with Newcastle registering a penalty from the boot of Brett Connon, the away side managed to find more cohesion ater the break with Max Malins touching down a brace of tries and Siva Naulago joining him on the scoresheet.
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South West rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual performances from the Bristol Bears players…
15 Max Malins - 8
The full back just makes the game look easy at times with his graceful style of play. He scored a brace of tries on Friday night, the first off a good diagonal line to take a pass while at full tilt to explode over the whitewash, the second he nonchalantly plucked the ball out of the air over his shoulder from an AJ MacGinty cross-field kick, Majestic
14 Siva Naulago - 8
The winger had a hugely influential game on both sides of the ball, making a one handed superman finish in the corner look casual while also getting his tackle timing perfect on more than one occasion to but in bone shattering hits that stopped the home side’s momentum.
13, Benhard Janse van Rensburg - 8
The South African continued where he left off last season when, for my money, he should have been crowned the Premiership Player of the Season. He showed wonderful hands to put Naulago away down the wing for his try and was just efficient and effective in everything he did.
12 Jimmy Williams - 8
The centre ran great lines all game to get Bristol over the gainline, notching the first try of the game as he supported James Dun’s half-break. The only blot on his copy book was an over complicated pass to Naulago in the first half which the Fijian dropped to butcher a stunning line break from Ibitoye.
11, Gabriel Ibitoye - 6
The winger had few chances to shine in space but still managed to beat multiple defenders with his footwork and then offload the ball. Caught the eye with a break off the back of a line out deep in his own half which really should have finished in a try had Bristol's handling been better.
10 AJ MacGinty - 6
The fly-half put in a pin-point cross-field kick for Malins’ second try and showed immense bravery to get back to his feet and play on after being almost cut in half by Falcons centre Sammy Arnold. The USA international alos had a key passing role in Williams try and Malin's first score. Probably Bristol's most important individual player this season.
9 Harry Randall - 7
The scrum-half was a sniping ball of energy all game and he dealt well with really messy ball at the ruck as Bristol struggled to protect it from Newcastle.
1 Ellis Genge - 8
The England star came out on top in a right ding-dong of a battle in the scrum and in the loose he carried the ball with malice. A huge tackle on Falcons captain Callum Chick dislodged the ball at a vital time with Newcastle looking on the verge of scoring.
2 Gabriel Oghre - 6
The hooker made a brilliant break taking a short pass off the back of a lineout. A real threat with ball in hand.
3 Max Lahiff - 6
The tighthead helped Bristol win a couple of penalties in the scrum but it wasn’t all one way traffic.
4 James Dun - 7
The lock produced a chicken wing offload that Semi Radradra would have been proud of to create the first try of the game for Jimmy Williams having gone through a gap in midfield.
5 Joe Batley - 6
The lock put pressure on box kickers and kept Falcons honest in the tight exchanges all game.
6 Steven Luatua - 6
The flanker hugged the touchlines to stretch the Falcons defence and made some strong carries out wide. Solid and reliable having missed much of pre-season with a wrist injury.
7 Jake Heenan - 6
The breakdown was a mess all game as Newcastle competed hard to try and disrupt Bristol;s quick ball, but the Kiwi showed some good awareness to step in and play scrum half when Harry Randall was sucked into a ruck and his decision to whip the ball out wide led to a try for Naulago.
8 Fitz Harding - 6
The captain was industrious as a carrier rather than at his explosive best.
Replacements:
16 Will Capon - 6
17 Jake Woolmore - 5
18 George Kloska - 7
19 Josh Caulfield - 6
20 Benjamin Grondona - N/A
21 Kieran Marmion - N/A
22 Joe Jenkins- 6
23 Rich Lane - 6