Connacht 27-10 Bristol Bears: Irish side's bonus-point victory ends Bears' last-16 hopes

Jack Aungier scored Connacht's second try in their bonus-point victory over Bristol Bears

Connacht ended Bristol Bears' hopes of reaching the Investec Champions Cup last 16 with a comfortable bonus-point win in their final pool game.

Shayne Bolton scored the opener before Bristol's Josh Caulfield was sent off for striking Finlay Bealham's head.

Bristol struggled to recover as the hosts scored again through Jack Aungier and Caolin Blade before the interval.

Andrew Smith added a fourth after the break as Bristol left empty-handed despite claiming a late penalty try.

The Bears arrived in Ireland in fourth and occupying the final qualification spot in Pool 1, but defeat for Pat Lam's men sees them drop to the foot of the table and out of the competition, exchanging places with the Irish province.

Three-time winners Saracens remain fifth and can leapfrog Connacht, who they trail by one point, with victory or a losing bonus if they are beaten by fewer than 20 points in their meeting with Lyon on Saturday.

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Connacht save best till last as Bristol fall away

The Irish province lost their opening three European games this season but Lam, who coached Connacht for four years, would have been all too aware of their threat in front of a buoyant home crowd.

Connacht raced into an early lead as Bolton finished off a flowing move following a break in midfield, before a single moment appeared to all but end Bristol's challenge.

As Caulfield approached the ruck, his boot made contact with the grounded Bealham's head as he tried to set his footing, but referee Pierre Brousset felt the lock had enough time to adjust his approach to the breakdown.

With the visitors down to 14, Connacht appeared to grow in confidence and Aungier powered over from close range. To compound Bristol's agony, Kyle Sinckler was sent to the sin-bin to reduce the visitors to 13 men as the hosts celebrated their second try.

It only intensified the Connacht attack and moments after the English prop returned to the field, Blade sniped over to put his side seemingly out of reach.

Bristol showed plenty of fight and were unfortunate not to score their first try before the break as David Hawkshaw appeared to make an illegal double tackle to keep the visitors out, but Brousset was not interested in reviewing the footage.

Both sides had excellent tries chalked off as Smith acrobatically dived over in the corner despite coming under the challenge of several Bristol defenders, but he was penalised for a toe in touch, and Kalaveti Ravouvou latched on to a neat kick through and powered away from the trailing Connacht defence before losing control of the ball as he dived over.

Smith did get his deserved try to seal the bonus point which keeps Connacht's faint hopes alive, before Bristol were rewarded for their perseverance with a penalty try in the closing stages of their Champions Cup campaign.

Line-ups

Connacht: O'Halloran; Smith, Hawkshaw, Aki, Bolton; Hanrahan, Blade (c); Buckley, McElroy, Bealham, Murray, Joyce, Prendergast, Hurley-Langton, Butler.

Replacements: Heffernan, Dooley, Aungier, Dowling, Oliver, McDonald, Carty, McNulty.

Bristol Bears: Malins; Ravouvou, Vakatawa, Janse van Rensburg, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Randal; Woolmore, Oghre, Sinckler, Caulfield, Batley, Luatua, Harding (c), Bradbury.

Replacements: Capon, Grahamslaw, Lahiff, Owen, Thomas, Marmion, Williams, O'Conor.

Referee: Pierre Brousset (Fra)

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