Report: London Irish 'A' 31-15 Bristol Bears 'A'

A penalty try on the stroke of half time looked to have pulled Bristol back into the game after early scores from Phil Cokanasiga and Scott Steele had given the hosts an early lead.

But Steele’s second early in the second half, followed by a try from Ben Atkins gave Irish some breathing space – and despite Will Hurrell crashing over late on, Tom Fowlie completed a bonus point win for Irish.

Irish struck first on seven minutes when Phil Cokanasiga latched on to a loose ball behind the Bears line to touch down for the opening score. And the hosts grabbed their second 12 minutes later when Scott Steele spotted an opening to snipe over from close range.

Tiff Eden’s long-range penalty got Bristol on the board shortly after – and when Chunya Munga was sent to the sin bin for multiple infringements close to the Irish line, Bristol’s dominance at scrum time was rewarded with a penalty try on the stroke of half time.

But Irish were quick to cancel it out early in the second period when Steele grabbed his second after strong work from Campbell. The hosts sealed the bonus point shortly after when Ben Atkins capitalised on an overthrown lineout to touch down.

Bristol hit back seven minutes from time when Will Hurrell powered over, but Irish responded immediately through Tom Fowlie.

London Irish 'A': Atkins; Englefield; Campbell; Cokanasiga; Fowlie; Brophy Clews; Steele (c); Goodrick-Clarke; Atkins; Green; Munga; Donnell; Cooke; Smart; Curtis-Harris

Replacements: Langdon; O’Connor; Chawatama; Collingridge; Moore-Aiono; Smith; Phillips; Dykes.

Bristol Bears 'A': Pincus; Edwards, Hurrell, Eden, Johnson-Fisher; Madigan, Stirzaker (c); Ja Lay, Kloska, N Thomas, Batley, Muldowney, Dun, Graham, Hawkins.

Replacements: Lindsay, Jo Lay, Armstrong, Rice (Academy U18s), Clementson (Hartpury), Krasauskas (Hartpury), Ascherl, Holiday (Academy U18s).

London Irish: Tries: Cokanasiga 7, Steele 19, 43, B Atkins 50, Fowlie 75. Cons: J Atkins 7, 43, 50. Yellow: Munga 39

Bristol Bears: Tries: Penalty 40, Hurrell 73. Pens: Eden 22