Gloucester crush Bristol

Morgan stretches for the opening try

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Gloucester ran in five tries to claim a 39-10 bonus-point victory over Bristol at Kingsholm on Friday evening.

Fly-half Ryan Lamb orchestrated a fine display of expansive rugby from the hosts, who dominated throughout a one-sided local derby.

Lamb's 19-point haul came from a try, four conversions, a penalty and a drop goal, while Olly Morgan, Peter Buxton (2) and Alex Brown also got across the whitewash.

Bristol, whose points came from an early Adrian Jarvis penalty and late converted try from David Lemi, were totally outclassed and remain bottom of the Guinness Premiership.

After an early exchange of penalties from Lamb and Jarvis, Gloucester full-back Morgan produced a scintillating finish to bag the opening try in the eighth minute.

Scrum-half Dave Lewis made the initial break from inside his own half, although his hopeful pass out to the right appeared to go forward.

Elusive

Referee Andrew Small let play carry on and the ball was quickly recycled and moved across the field to Morgan, who twice stepped inside would-be tacklers on his way to the line. Lamb added the additional two points for a 10-3 lead.

The lineout, a source of constant joy for the hosts, provided the possession for their second try in the 16th minute.

Lewis was again the provider, breaking down the blindside before off-loading at the perfect moment to allow flanker Buxton to force his way over. Lamb's conversion and a 23rd-minute drop goal extended Gloucester's advantage to 20-3.

The one-way traffic continued - Buxton added his second try on 31 minutes when the ball was spun wide to exploit Bristol's under-manned defence. The blindside enjoyed an easy finish in the corner, although Lamb scuffed the conversion attempt to leave his side 25-3 up at half-time.

Bristol - who brought on former England scrum-half Shaun Perry - improved markedly for the first quarter-of-an-hour after the interval and enjoyed a sustained period of territory, without ever threatening the try-line.

Continuity

But the visitors' upturn did not last and Gloucester secured a bonus point with their fourth try in the 55th minute. Lock Brown went over from close range, the culmination of several impressive phases.

Apo Satala and Lesley Vainikolo - on as a half-time replacement for Morgan - both kept the move going forward by off-loading out of the tackle, and Luke Narraway also released out of contact for the final pass to Brown.

And a rout looked on the cards as Lamb intercepted Bristol inside centre Ed Barnes' pass in midfield and took it back under the sticks from inside his own half for his side's fifth try.

At that stage Gloucester led 39-3 - Lamb having converted both tries - but Bristol hit back immediately with a superb individual score from Lemi.

The Samoan winger collected Lee Robinson's short pass before standing up Iain Balshaw and storming down the left touchline to cross in the corner. Barnes kicked the conversion to reduce Bristol's final deficit to 39-10.