La Rochelle maintain winning streak with 22-35 win over Bristol

Bristol Rugby 22-35 La Rochelle, Ashton Gate
Scorecard

La Rochelle maintained their winning streak in the ongoing European Rugby Challenge Cup after defeating Bristol 22-35 at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

This is La Rochelle's third win from as many games as they top Pool 4 while Bristol are positioned third.

Harry Thacker (7') and Jake Heenan (18') scored unconverted tries in the first half for Bristol as they raced to a 10-point lead before Gregory Alldritt's touchdown in the 20th minute followed by Maxime Lafage's conversion brought the gap down to three points.

The visitors had momentum on their side with the break approaching as Romain Sazy touched down in the 40th minute and a conversion from Lafage saw them ending the first half with a 10-14 lead.

La Rochelle capitalised on their momentum as they took the game away from Bristol in the initial minutes of the second half with tries from Jules Favre (45') and Vincent Rattez (48') while the fly-half kicked both the conversions as they claimed the bonus point.

Jeremy Sinzelle got the fifth try for the French side as they stretched the lead to 25 points before Bristol managed to reduce their losing margin with tries from Tom Pincus (68') and Charlie Powell (77') that helped them claim a try bonus point.