WEST COUNTRY DERBY – Bristol Bears’ bubble burst by Gloucester-Hartpury

Hannah Botterman (below, rear of photo) reflects on a tough afternoon. And she looks at how Bristol’s own errors in the West Country derby burst the Bears’ bubble in a 54-14 defeat to the relentless Gloucester-Hartpury, as Olivia Franks reports.

Red Roses’ prop Hannah Botterman came on in the second-half facing down the barrel of a third straight defeat in the PWR for Bristol Bears.

Taking the sheen off Ruahei Demant’s PWR debut, league leaders Gloucester-Hartpury dotted down eight times while Bristol managed two scores in the second half to make the deficit forty.

Emma Sing’s precision with the boot paired with Gloucester’s intensity in defence, made it difficult for Bristol to maintain possession for multiple phases throughout the game.

Botterman says: “If we can keep hold of the ball then it gives us an opportunity to build a bit more pressure, build a bit more momentum, which at the moment we’re not doing. We’re not really getting past two or three phases.

“I think for us, the second half was definitely more positive, but it’s our own errors that are allowing teams into the game.

“A couple of their tries in the first half were directly off of our mistakes.”

Bonus

Gloucester-Hartpury sewed up the bonus point before the half hour mark when Tatiana Heard went over for the fourth try.

Sarah Beckett scored their fifth before the break to make it 35-0 at half-time.

Try-scorer Mia Venner was standout for Gloucester-Hartpury on both sides of the ball.

Venner’s tackle on Sarah Bern which prevented a try in the first half set the tone for the work rate of the Gloucester-Hartpury backline in defence, let alone in attack.

Unchallenged knock-ons and not straight line-outs were hallmarks of the Bears game today.

Botterman said: “I think they obviously put a lot of pressure on us in terms of aerially, but for us it’s just about that cohesion. We had a late change mid-week, then we lost our second hooker so it’s just tough.”

Though Bristol Bears had been the team with the least penalties conceded in the PWR so far this season, Gloucester’s physicality at the breakdown meant Bristol were consistently marched back.

“We just need to be a bit smarter, take an extra step, be a bit deeper and just use our heads a bit more.”

“There’s some positives we can take from it, but obviously losing that significantly at home isn’t something we want to do. It’s tough.”

The challenges keep coming as Bears take on third-placed Exeter Chiefs in the next round.

Photo: Bristol Bears