Wins for Bath and Leicester in Prem Rugby Cup
Hooker Kepueli Tuipulotu scored the first of Bath's seven tries against Bristol Bears
- Published
Kepueli Tuipulotu scored two of Bath's seven tries as they beat Bristol 49-19 in the Prem Rugby Cup at Ashton Gate.
After hooker Tomas Gwilliam had scored the night's first try for Bristol, his opposite number Tuipulotu quickly replied, before tries from prop Vilikesa Sela and flanker Arthur Green gave the visitors a 21-5 half-time lead.
Winger Charlie Griffin secured Bath's bonus point before he and Tuipulotu added their second tries. Centre Will Butt went over to cap a dominant night, while a try from debutant Ellis Bevan and Gwilliam's second provided consolations for Bristol.
In the night's other match, a late penalty from Orlando Bailey gave Leicester Tigers a 10-8 victory at Newcastle Red Bulls.
It was a first win of the competition for Bath, having lost their opening game to Exeter Chiefs back in September, and a second defeat from three games for Bristol in Pool A.
With a long injury list, Bristol sent out an extremely inexperienced side but Gwilliam's try off a rolling maul gave them early hope.
However, Bath quickly took control as Tuipulotu broke off the back of a line-out to score, and straight from the kick-off Tuipulotu and Butt linked up to send Sela over.
Two quick tries either side of half-time gave Bath breathing space, and when Griffin picked up a loose ball to run in from 50 metres out, the visitors were out of sight and Bristol ended up with nothing to show from their night.
In Pool B, Leicester claimed their third win in three after Bailey snatched the game from Newcastle with his boot with seven minutes remaining.
Newcastle, who had won their opening game at home to Harlequins, scored the only points of the first half as captain Ollie Fletcher barged over from close range to make it 5-0 at the break.
Leicester's first points came from winger George Pearson, who intercepted a pass in his own 22 and ran the length of the pitch to score, with the conversion putting the Tigers 7-5 in front.
Newcastle went back ahead in the final quarter as they won a scrum penalty and Brett Connon was on target from 35 metres out.
But they could not close the game out, and Gabriel Hamer-Webb made a break for Leicester that resulted in a penalty in front of the posts, and Bailey made no mistake.