Bristol Bears beaten by Brive in pre-season opener

Bristol Bears opened their 2022/23 pre-season programme with a defeat away in France to Top 14 side Brive.

A side lacking many of the Premiership club’s big guns, some of whom are likely to get their first run out next week away at the Dragons in the second of three planned pre-season games, were beaten 22-17 at Municipal Stadium in Saint-Affrique on Friday night.

Amongst the starting side for Bristol, which was full of proven Premiership performers, were two stars of the club’s academy championship-winning U18s side of last season who were given an opportunity to shine in the senior side in key positions, in fly-half Sam Worsley and number eight Ed Harvey.

But it was former Wallabies international Luke Morahan who stole the show off the bench for the Bears with a stunning 50m solo try to remind everyone of his quality with rivals for his place in Bristol’s best starting XV arriving this summer in the form of the elusive, hot-stepping Gabriel Ibitoye who did not travel as part of the 36-man squad.

In a perfect illustration of why pre-season friendlies are so important, Bristol went in scoreless at halftime, down 19-0 after tries from centre Nico Lee, number eight Abraham Papali’i and full-back Thomas Laranjeria.

Ten minutes into the second half replacement Matthew Jones touched down in the corner to get the Bears off the mark and as so often is the case with Bristol during Pat Lam’s reign, the away side struck again quickly, crossing the line just two minutes later through scrum half Tom Whiteley, fresh back from surgery on his hamstring.

New centre signing James Williams, who is also an experienced operator at fly-half, added the conversion to make it a one score game before Brive extended their buffer to 10 points with