Six-try Bristol end Northampton's unbeaten start
Aidan Boshoff (right) scored the Bears' fifth try as the home team went into the break with a 35 point lead
- Published
The Prem
Bristol (35) 46
Tries: Marmion 2, Jordan, Ravouvou, Boshoff, Ivanishvili Cons: Worsley 5 Pens: Worsley 2
Northampton (0) 12
Tries: Van der Mescht, Furbank Con: Smith
An irrepressible Bristol Bears decimated second-placed Northampton Saints, scoring five unanswered tries in the first half and inflicting the visitors' first Prem defeat of the season at a buzzing Ashton Gate.
Following Edoardo Todaro's early 20-minute red card for Saints, Kieran Marmion scored a quickfire double from close range either side of Tom Jordan's effort as the visitors reeled after being reduced to 14 men.
The Saints then shipped a fourth through Kalaveti Ravouvou's opportunistic effort before Aidan Boshoff's score gave the Bears a 35-0 lead at half-time.
JJ van der Mescht and Tom Litchfield replied as Northampton improved after the break, before Luka Ivanishvili sealed a big win for the Bears.
The match had barely begun when Todaro was sent to the bench for 20 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Sam Worsley in the air.
Saints were immediately on the back foot and only moments later conceded their first try.
Marmion capitalised on poor defending with a close-range tap-and-go and they conceded again soon after.
Following repeated phases in the visitors' 22, Joe Batley was repelled before Marmion fed the ball wide to Jordan, who picked a perfect line to score untouched.
Bristol were dominant and scored a third with Saints unable to stem the flow of points.
A delightful midfield move with multiple Bristol players' offloading saw Harry Thacker race up to within inches of the line. With so many Saints players involved in hauling him down and others struggling to get into position, Marmion was free to pick up at the base and dot down for his second.
Restored to their full complement when Todaro returned, Northampton remained under the pump and were grateful when Thacker's try was ruled out for offside in the build-up.
Unable to get any kind of foothold, Saints were exposed again on the half-hour mark.
Following a Northampton scrum, Fin Smith was hammered in the tackle by Benhard Janse van Rensburg allowing Ravouvou to gather the ball and outpace everyone to score Bristol's bonus-point try.
Boshoff then dived over in the corner for Bristol's fifth to cap an extraordinarily one-sided first half.
Edoardo Todaro's early red card triggered a blitz of Bristol scores in the first half
With no options other than completely capitulating or going down fighting, Saints chose the latter course in the second half.
In a rare foray into the Bristol 22, the visitors managed to keep the ball in hand long enough to spring Van der Mescht from short range.
George Furbank's kick through was then regathered by Litchfield for the Saints' second before Ivanishvili powered over from a driving maul as the clock entered the red.
The result moves Bristol up to fifth, while Northampton remain in second.
'Hugely disappointing' - Dowson
Kieran Marmion, who scored two tries for the Bears, spoke to BBC Radio Bristol after the game:
"We've had a good few weeks training. We were on the front foot early, scored a few tries and in the first half we were excellent.
"It's always tough when you are that far ahead, obviously you want to be that far ahead. We talked about resetting at half-time. They came out and played some more, but we finished the game really strong which is a positive.
"I think as a whole we got ourselves in good positions and got scores off that. We'll look at it back and try to do the same next week."
Phil Dowson, Northampton Saints' director of rugby, spoke to BBC Radio Northampton after the game:
"[It was] hugely disappointing. I dislike this stadium immensely, we've got some very poor memories of performances here and we added another one to that list.
"We didn't get anything right, we didn't start with any sort of endeavour, we didn't start with any aggression and in a league like this you're going to get found out.
"We were drastically short in the first half of any sort of fight, which is unusual, not like this side at all. We need to work out who we want to be going forward."
Bristol: Jordan; Bates, Van Rensburg, Williams, Ravouvou; Worsley, Marmion; Woolmore, Thacker, Chawatama; Rubiolo, Batley, Grondona, Harding (c), Mata.
Replacements: Oghre, Lahiff, Halliwell, Owen, Ivanishvili, Wolstenholme, Rees-Zammit, Boshoff.
Northampton: Furbank (c); Todaro, Litchfield, Thame, Caqusau; Smith, McParland; Iyogun, Wright, Davison; Prowse, Van der Mescht, Kemeny, Graham, Chick.
Replacements: Smith, West, Kundiona, Benson, Pearson, James, Hutchinson, Pater.
Red Card: Todaro.
Referee: Ian Tempest.