It was not to be for the Cubs as they were beaten 49-14 by Bath U18 in the West Country derby in round two of the Academy U18 League.
Tries at the beginning and end of the second half were the highlight for the Bears against last season’s Academy League champions.
The hosts got off to a fast start, leading 35-0 at the interval after scoring five converted tries at Chippenham RFC.
In the second half, the Cubs seemed resurgent however and offered a real challenge to their opponents with Monty Wells carrying over in the 36th minute.
Almost directly from the kick off, Evan Morris made a brilliant line break to get his side to within five metres of the Bath line and after a couple of carries the second rower crossed the paint.
Bruno Lamb kicked the conversion to add the extras and make the score 35-7.
Following the try, the Cubs continued applying pressure to the Bath try line as Osian Williams carried the ball into the try zone but was held up by an opposition defender.
The hosts added two more tries in the second half, extending their lead to 49-7 but Bristol remained resilient, getting the last say in the game as Morris scored the final try.
After a prolonged period in the Bath red zone, the ball came wide to the full back who made no mistake in crossing the line and dotting the ball down.
From out wide, Lamb kicked another conversion through the sticks to make the final score 49-14.
The Cubs will look to bounce back next weekend back on their own patch, facing Gloucester Rugby at Shaftesbury Park for an evening match on Saturday, January 18 (7:30 kick off).
