Bristol Bears sparkle in the sunshine at Harlequins but are denied a shot at silverware
Bristol Bears finished their 2023/24 season with arguably their best display of the campaign with a relentless 53-28 thumping of Harlequins on their own turf but results elsewhere meant their surge up the table fell on place short of making the semi-finals
Bristol ran in seven tries to secure their biggest win at The Stoop during Pat Lam's tenure at the club to give themselves the best possible chance of making the top four, but Sale Sharks' 20-10 victory at Saracens just up the road meant the Bears finished fifth.
READ MORE: Harlequins 28-53 Bristol Bears LIVE reaction as Bears miss out on the semi-finals
Bears led 21-14 at half-time, with James Williams, Ellis Genge and Gabriel Ibitoye all crossing. Those scores came at a cost though, with Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Callum Sheedy and Genge all forced off before the break. England prop Genge ended the game on crutches and in a walking boot having pulled his calf which will concern head coach Steve Borthwick ahead of the summer tour to New Zealand
Harlequins scored two tries of their own through the almost unstoppable Chandler Cunningham-South and Alex Dombrandt. Early in the second half, Harry Thacker brought up Bristol’s bonus point, but Quins responded through Luke Northmore before a second Cunningham-South try gave them the lead for the first time in the match. But the boot of Williams and tries from Max Lahiff, Noah Heward and Gabriel Oghre allowed Bristol to retake the lead and stretch clear, even if it was not enough to crack the top four.
Lam’s side could not have wished for a better start, with former Quins academy graduate Ibitoye racing clear down the left before Williams went over after 55 seconds. Sheedy, who came straight into the starting side in place of AJ MacGinty who was sidelined following a blow to the head last week, converted from the touchline.
Janse van Rensburg limped off after the restart with a hip injury following a huge tackle from Cunningham-South and Quins levelled when the departing Andre Esterhuizen burst through a hole before Cunningham-South took a clever pull back pass from Alex Dombrandt to score under the posts.
Genge crossed after some wonderful offloading by Bears created space to allow the loosehead space to throw a dummy pass that fooled three Harlequins defenders and open a door for him to speed through. The prop almost had a second shortly after but the score was ruled out for an infringement by Thacker in the build-up.
Instead, Quins levelled through Dombrandt who powered over in the corner, with Marcus Smith converting from the touchline. A loose ball in midfield then allowed Ibitoye to gather and stretch his legs and run in a third to make it 21-14 to the visitors.
Genge and Sheedy departed in the same passage before the break as Bristol survived defending with just 13 men in the line, but the Bears flew out of the blocks in the second half as Thacker dotted down with a customary maul score.
Harlequins roared back, bringing back memories of their famous 28-point turnaround in the semi-final meeting between these sides three years ago at Ashton Gate. Northmore showed brilliant footballing skills for their third try before Cunningham-South powered over for the bonus-point try to make it 28-26 to the hosts.
But a Williams penalty restored Bristol’s lead before Lahiff got over from close range with an impressive display of strength following a burst from Max Malins who moved to fly-half in Sheedy's absence.
The momentum had swung definitively, Williams knocking over another penalty before Heward finished a try that was again made by a Malins break.
Harlequins had nothing left to give and Bristol brought up a half-century of points with another maul try, this time through Oghre to cap a stunning display on the road, but at the final whistle the players on the pitch learned their efforts hadn't been enough to extend the season into the play-offs, however there is no doubting the Bears are back on the up.
Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Oscar Beard, 10 Marcus Smit, 9 Danny Care, 1 Fin Baxter, 2 Jack Walker, 3 Will Collier, 4 Irne Herbst, 5 Stephan Lewies (c), 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Will Evans, 8 Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 George Hammond, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Will Joseph
Bristol Bears : 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 James Dun, 5 Joe Batley, 6 Steven Luatua, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 8 Magnus Bradbury
Replacements: 1 6 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Ben Grondona, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Virimi Vakatawa, Siva Naulago
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe and Andrew Jackson
TMO: Ian Tempest