Rugby / Bristol Bears
Bristol celebrate 1000th competitive game with win against Worcester
Quiz question: who holds the world record for the number of tries scored in first class rugby?
Answer: Alan Morley with 479, of which 384 of these were scored for Bristol.
It was fitting therefore to have Morley on the Ashton Gate pitch at half-time as Bristol marked the club’s 1000th game of competitive rugby with a much-needed bonus point win against Worcester.
Seventy-one-year-old Morley, who played for Bristol between 1968 and 1986, modestly said that his work was made easy by his teammates.
How would he fare in today’s professional era? As a winger, he would most definitely have approved of the play of the day which saw Worcester’s one try scored acrobatically by Noah Heward, sensationally leaping over Charles Piatau to touch down before hitting the corner flag.
From Bristol Rugby Club to a brief spell as Bristol Shoguns and now Bristol Bears, Bristol’s home since 2014 has been Ashton Gate, where on Saturday they recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Bristol’s tries on this historic occasion came courtesy of two from Toby Fricker, and one each for Sam Jeffries and Tom Whiteley.
The Bears travel to Exeter and Worcester in the Premiership Rugby Cup, before returning to Ashton Gate to host Northampton on the evening of Friday, November 26.
Main photo: JMP
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