Bath Rugby travel to Ashton Gate on Friday evening looking to bring an end to the Bears' rich vein of form and to claim bragging rights (kick-off 19:45, live on BT Sport 1).
Bristol Bears solitary defeat in their last seven encounters was 38-51 at home to Clermont in Round 1 of the European Champions Cup. Bristol have lost only once at Ashton Gate in Gallagher Premiership Rugby since December 2019: 22-25 to Exeter Chiefs in August.
Bath Rugby’s most recent victory (excluding the win over London Irish) was 33-17 at Worcester in Gallagher Premiership Rugby on 5 December. Bath have not been victorious at the Rec in the competition since beating Gloucester there in Round 21 last season.
Bristol’s only defeat in their last five fixtures against Bath was 19-26 in “The Clash” at Twickenham in April 2019. Bath’s only previous victory at Ashton Gate in Premiership Rugby was in March 2008.
MATCH DETAILS
Date: 29 January 2021
Kick-off: 19:45
Competition: Gallagher Premiership R7
Where: Ashton Gate
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistants: Anthony Woodthorpe & Luke Pearce
TMO: Tom Foley
Citing Officer: David Guyan
Media Coverage: BT Sport 2, BBC Radio Bristol
BRISTOL'S CURRENT FORM
(LWWWW)
Exeter Chiefs 7-20 Bristol Bears | Gallagher Premiership
Bristol Bears 29-17 Newcastle Falcons| Gallagher Premiership
Harlequins19-27 Bristol Bears | Gallagher Premiership
Connacht 18-27 Bristol Bears | Heineken Champions Cup
Bristol Bears 38-51 Clermont Auvergne | Heineken Champions Cup
LAST TIME OUT AT ASHTON GATE
Bristol Bears resisted a second-half fightback from Bath Rugby to claim their first Gallagher Premiership Rugby victory at the Rec in 14 years and go third in the league.
Chris Vui got the visitors off to a dream start in the West Country derby with a try inside the opening five minutes, before Rhys Priestland cut the gap with a penalty for Bath.
Alapati Leiua extended Bristol’s lead at the end of the first quarter, with Callum Sheedy adding the extras, but another Priestland penalty kept Bath in touch at the break.
Having established a 12-6 lead at the interval, the Bears landed another blow to their near neighbours with their third try just past the hour as Harry Randall dotted down.
Sheedy’s conversion made it 19-6 before Bristol were made to sweat in the final 15 minutes after Will Chudley raced over, but the visitors held on to secure derby bragging rights.
