Bristol beaten by Stormers in Champions Cup opener

Bristol Bears lose their Champions Cup pool-stage opener against Stormers, with Jonathan Roche and Leolin Zas both scoring twice for the South African side. Jonathan Roche scored tries in each half for Stormers against Bristol Bristol Bears conceded seven tries as they lost to South African side Stormers in their first pool match of this season's Champions Cup. Seabelo Senatla raced clear for Stormers' opening score and then showed incredible footwork to control a pass with his boot before offloading to fellow winger Leolin Zas. Joe Owen powered over in the corner to reply for Bristol but Stormers quickly restored their 14-point advantage with a Jonathan Roche try. Stormers hooker JJ Kotze was shown a 20-minute red card before the interval for making head-to-head contact in a tackle with Bristol skipper Kieran Marmion.

The Bears had spells of pressure while the hosts were down to 14 players either side of half-time. And in a period when Stormers had just 13 men after Zas had been sin-binned for a high tackle, Bristol finally reduced their deficit as Sol Moody emerged from the back of a maul to touch down. But any hope of a comeback was short-lived as two Bristol players collided when attempting to claim a high kick and Roche collected the loose ball to score his second. Replacements Warrick