The Championship
Sunday, September 17th 2017
Ashton Gate

	Bristol Rugby	50
	Richmond	5

Match Report

Will Carpenter reports from Ashton Gate

Posted Sunday, September 17th 2017 @bristolsportwkc

Report: Bristol Rugby 50-5 Richmond

Sunday, September 17th 2017

Max Crumpton scored four times as Bristol Rugby cancelled out a frustrating first half with a fluent second to thrash Richmond 50-5 at Ashton Gate on Sunday.

Crumpton’s first and another from Rhodri Williams were the only highlights of an attritional first half as Bristol took a 17-0 lead into half time.

But after the break, the hosts were quickly into their stride, running in five second-half tries courtesy of three more for Crumpton, a second for Williams and a last-gasp effort from Dan Thomas, to seal a second successive bonus-point win.

What happened?

Two tries in the final ten minutes lit up an otherwise frustrating first half for Bristol, who were made to work hard by a gritty and determined Richmond side.

David Lemi almost opened the scoring on six minutes, but found himself bundled into touch as he stretched to ground the ball – and the hosts had to wait until the 34^th minute to get on the scoreboard as Billy Searle knocked over a simple penalty from under the sticks.

Bristol came to life as the first half edged towards its conclusion, as Williams cantered over from 30 metres after Tovey had galloped his way through the Richmond midfield.

The hosts dealt a knockout blow on the stroke of half time, as Crumpton touched down for the first of his four identical scores at the back of an impressive Bristol maul, to open up a healthy lead at the break.

Luke Morahan feeds Rhodri Williams for his second try of the afternoon (JMP UK).

The hooker was at it again just eight minutes into the second half before completing his hat trick with another carbon copy on the hour mark, as Bristol sealed the bonus point.

Minutes after restarting, Richmond found themselves back under the posts when replacement Morahan’s sparkling break sent the supporting Williams in for his second and Bristol’s fifth.

Crumpton’s fourth, together with Searle’s fifth conversion of the afternoon, made it 43-0 with ten minutes left on the clock, before Richmond’s Jordan Simpson-Hefft gave the visitors something to cheers about with a try in the right-hand corner.

There was still time for a sixth Bristol try as Dan Thomas raced on to Ryan Glynn’s pass to dot down from close range, with Searle’s conversion bringing up a half-century and completing a resounding home win.

Key moment:

A scrappy first 30 minutes was eventually cancelled out by two tries in ten minutes, as Bristol broke the Richmond resolve courtesy of tries from Rhodri Williams and Max Crumpton. It gave Pat Lam's side a healthy lead at half time - one which led to a resounding home win.

Man of the match: Max Crumpton

Max Crumpton became only the second Bristol Rugby forward to score four tries in a league game, as he crossed once in the first half and three times in the second to complete an impressive individual display.

But it wasn't just his try-scoring antics that impressed, Crumpton was dangerous in the loose and set up Rhodri Williams' first try with a deft offload to Jack Tovey deep inside his own half.

Photo of the match:

Rhodri Williams scorches over for his second try of the afternoon (JMP UK).

Social post of the match:

The teams:

Bristol Rugby: Mat Protheroe; Ryan Edwards, Jack Tovey, Alapati Leiua, David Lemi; Billy Searle, Rhodri Williams; Jack O’Connell, Max Crumpton, Nicky Thomas, Joe Batley, Sam Jeffries, Steven Luatua, Olly Robinson, Jordan Crane (c).

Replacements: Jason Harris-Wright, Soane Tonga’uiha, Alex Giltrow, Dan Thomas, Ryan Glynn, Ian Madigan, Luke Morahan.

Richmond: Rob Kirby, Jono Woodward; Cameron Mitchell, Ronnie McLean, Jordan Simpson-Hefft, Freddie Gabbitass, Jamie Gibbs; Jeremy Cunnew, Jason Phipps, Joe Tarrant, Will Warden, Alex Humfrey, Jesse Liston, Jack Allcock, Chris Davies.

Replacements: Jamie Townsend, Will Goodrick-Clarke, Tom Sargeant, Luc Jones, Ben Rath, Jake Parker, Craig Trenier.