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Dragons have no answer to Semi Radradra as Bristol march into European semis

Semi Radradra of Bristol scores during the match against Dragons - Dragons have no answer to Semi Radradra as Bristol march into European semis - GETTY IMAGES
Semi Radradra of Bristol scores during the match against Dragons - Dragons have no answer to Semi Radradra as Bristol march into European semis - GETTY IMAGES
  • Bristol Bears 56-17 Dragons

Semi Radradra was signed by Bristol to help them win silverware and he took Pat Lam’s men one step closer to that goal by sending them into a home Challenge Cup semi-final.

This was a Bears display which peaked and troughed, but in Radradra there is no doubt the men from Ashton Gate have one of the best players on the planet.

In the end this was a blowout as Bristol continued what is becoming a useful habit of scoring quick tries in spurts. It happened in either half as the Dragons were put to bed.

In the first, Fijian superstar Radradra created two scores for England flanker Ben Earl in just two minutes as he stamped his undoubted class on the game. Then in the final stages, Chris Vui, Max Malins and Dan Thomas all crossed within three minutes. Radradra also scored a sensational try of his own after Nathan Hughes had opened the scoring. Callum Sheedy ended with 21 points. Bristol will now play either Edinburgh or Bordeaux.

Their director of rugby Lam said: “That’s what the marquee ruling is all about – you want to bring in players like Semi. We all appreciate his moments of magic, but for me the selfless hard yards he makes are even more special. We don’t know if it will be Edinburgh or Bordeaux – both will be tough games – but we have the ability to score in bursts with the way we play.”

Earl and Radradra were the game’s outstanding performers and the former added: “It’s unbelievable some of the things Semi can do with the ball. You think you’re running a useless line and somehow he still gets it to you. It’s a lot of fun. The team is very thankful he’s here.”

Ben Earl scores for Bristol - ACTION IMAGES
Ben Earl scores for Bristol - ACTION IMAGES

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland and England and Wales bosses Eddie Jones and Wayne Pivac all watched on and would have no doubt been purring at Radradra’s display, but it was the Dragons who started strongest with Bristol slow out of the blocks.

Sam Davies kicked a simple penalty after Charles Piutau was penalised for holding on and the Bristol full-back’s nightmare start soon got worse. Davies kicked to Ashton Hewitt who was in space on the touchline. Piutau came across to cover, but the former New Zealand wing’s tackle attempt was pitiful for a player of his quality and Davies converted.

Bristol finally woke up to score three times in a six-minute purple patch. Piutau made amends with a lovely break in midfield which set Luke Morahan flying away.

When the ball was spread back right, Hughes couldn’t be stopped.

Sheedy kicked the goal and the game then turned completely on its head as Earl finished off two sublime flowing Bristol moves with Radradra heavily involved in both. His outrageous offload for the second Earl score was just stunning as the Fijian superstar conducted the Bristol orchestra.

Earl’s sidestep to finish was just as good and Sheedy kicked both conversions and a penalty.

What happened at the start of the second half almost defied logic as Radradra turned creator to scorer. He picked the ball up from Sheedy just inside the away half and his journey to the line was effortless as he brushed off a series of Dragons tacklers to score a fine individual effort. Sheedy converted.

Dean Ryan’s visitors were never going to come back from 31-10 down, but their captain and former Bristol scrum-half Rhodri Williams did snipe over and Davies narrowed their deficit.

Sheedy calmed any Bristol nerves with two more penalties to put the game to bed, but there was still time for another Bears salvo. After Radradra had been applauded off, Vui crossed by the posts, Malins went the length of the field, and Thomas had the simplest of finishes as Bristol pulled away.

Ryan said: “Semi is world-class, but it’s the reaction to his moments we have to look at. There is not a lot you can do to stop him doing what he does. It was definitely worth applauding, but there is so much more we can do to stay in games.”

Match details

Scoring sequence: 0-3 Davies pen; 0-8 Hewitt try; 0-10 Davies con; 5-10 Hughes try; 7-10 Sheedy con; 12-10 Earl try; 14-10 Sheedy con; 19-10 Earl try; 21-10 Sheedy con; 24-10 Sheedy pen; 29-10 Radradra try; 31-10 Sheedy con; 31-15 Williams try; 31-17 Davies con; 34-17 Sheedy pen; 37-17 Sheedy pen; 42-17 Vui try; 44-17 Sheedy con; 49-17 Malins try; 51-17 Sheedy con; 56-17 Thomas try

Bristol Bears: C Piutau (M Malins 51); L Morahan, S Radradra (A Leiua 72), P O'Conor, H Purdy; C Sheedy, A Uren (H Randall 53); J Woolmore (Y Thomas 49), H Thacker (W Capon 66), K Sinckler (J Afoa 49), D Attwood (J Joyce 61), C Vui, S Luatua (capt), B Earl, N Hughes (D Thomas 49)

Dragons: J Williams (J Lewis 62); J Holmes, N Tompkins (A Warren 79), J Roberts, A Hewitt; S Davies, R Williams (capt) (L Baldwin 75); B Harris (J Reynolds 61), E Dee (R Hibbard 61), L Brown (L Fairbrother 61), J Davies (J Maksymiw 70), M Screech, A Wainwright, H Keddie (T Basham 55), R Moriarty

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)