Bristol 38-51 Clermont: Kotaro Matsushima scores hat-trick in Champions Cup win
Clermont notch seven tries at Bristol in highly impressive Champions Cup Pool B performance with tries from Kotaro Matsushima (three), Apisai Naqalevu, Damian Penaud (two) and Fritz Lee. Bristol next play Connacht away, while Clermont host Munster next weekend.
By Michael Cantillon at Ashton Gate
Last Updated: 14/12/20 3:13pm
A marvellous display of attacking quality from Clermont Auvergne proved too much for Bristol in their Champions Cup return, as the visitors registered an entertaining 51-38 win at a chilly Ashton Gate.
Clermont backs Kotaro Matsushima (three), Apisai Naqalevu and Damian Penaud (two) each notched tries, as did No 8 Fritz Lee in the bonus-point victory, with Camille Lopez adding two penalties and five conversions.
Bristol scored five tries themselves - enough for a bonus-point - in a brilliant game through Max Malins, Bryan Byrne, Harry Randall, Ioan Lloyd and Siale Piutau while Callum Sheedy kicked three conversions and a penalty.
The clash was Bristol's first European Cup fixture for 12 years, but the Bears badly missed star centre Semi Radradra in midfield, with Clermont - still in search of their first Champions Cup title - in menacing form.
Clermont began the encounter at pace and full of power, with their back-line causing the Bears all manner of problems. Indeed, bang on four minutes, all five members of said back-line combined for a scintillating opening try.
Centre Naqalevu started things off with an impactful carry, before his midfield partner George Moala executed an inside ball for wing Penaud to arc on a devastating line-break before finding Alivereti Raka, who romped down the touchline and offloaded inside for full-back Matsushima to slide over.
Lopez slotted a brilliant conversion off the touchline and less than three minutes later, Clermont were over again when bulky centre Naqalevu picked off a Sheedy pass just within the Clermont half before sprinting away for an intercept try under the sticks.
Cumulative errors followed from the hosts as scrum-half Randall kicked out on the full, before the ball was spilled in a Bristol maul just outside their own 22, and within moments they were made to pay.
On 15 minutes, Penaud got in on the act after another magnificent back-line move. A powerful Clermont scrum saw Lee flick the ball up for Morgan Parra, who fed on to Lopez for the out-half to pull a perfect pass back for Raka on a wraparound from the opposite wing. From there, it was a three on two as Raka found Matsushima, who passed on for Penaud to skip over.
Bristol, who had spent next to no time within the Clermont 22, responded quickly as Randall took a quick-tap penalty and when Matsushima failed to roll away, the Bears turned down a kickable penalty to kick to the corner. Lineout ball was very scrappy, but Bristol earned a reprieve when Clermont knocked on in the tackle.
From that scrum, the Bears did strike back as Sheedy found Malins on a super line - with Clermont wing Raka also slipping to make the gap larger - for the full-back to race over.
Henry Purdy knocked on a Lopez chip after Bristol let the ball bounce soon after though, and Clermont pounced again. With Sheedy down injured, the French outfit took ruthless advantage of an overlap of numbers down the right as Naqalevu sent Matsushima in for his second via a basketball-style pass.
Four minutes from the end of the half, Bristol scored their second try as hooker Byrne touched down in the corner at the tail of a powerful rolling maul. Sheedy curled the tough touchline conversion over, making it 14-26.
Bristol couldn't get to half-time without conceding again, however, as two minutes from the break Clermont forced a penalty in front of the posts when Lee and hooker Adrien Pelissie combined to jackal over the ball. Lopez duly split the uprights for 29-14.
Three minutes into the second half, Sheedy kicked the first points off the tee after Clermont were penalised for obstruction when running the ball out of their own half.
Clermont instantly responded with a penalty of their own through Lopez, however, when Lopez himself caught Piutau with a tackle deep within the Bristol 22, allowing flanker Judicael Cancoriet to win a breakdown turnover.
In the 49th minute, Bristol produced perhaps the try of the day in a stunning sequence of play off a lineout within their own half. In all, the ball changed hands 10 times as the Bears shifted the play from one wing to the other before Purdy bounced Matsushima, rampaged down the left and offloaded back for Randall to pick up wonderfully and dot down.
Again, the Clermont response was immediate as Moala carried strongly over the gain-line, before Lopez and Parra pulled the strings for Penaud to catch and saunter over.
Into the final quarter, Clermont notched their sixth try of the day when quick hands from Raka released Cancoriet down the left, and a combination of quick ball and a hard crash-line from Lee saw the No 8 score.
With 11 minutes left, Clermont scored a seventh as Matsushima clinched his hat-trick by showing fleet footedness in the Bristol 22 to jink his way over.
Bristol ensured they would gain something from the contest when Lloyd scored in the corner with six minutes remaining, after a Malins quick-tap, before Piutau then notched a scruffy effort with two minutes left. Suddenly Bristol were one more try away from a losing bonus-point too.
When Clermont scrum-half Sebastien Bezy was sin-binned and Bristol were handed a penalty within the opposition 22 inside the final minute, the Bears leaving with two points appeared a distinct possibility. But Malins crucially kicked the ball dead when aiming for the corner to bring about the referee's final whistle.
