 James Simpson-Daniel scorched over for Gloucester's third try |
Gloucester (15) 27
Tries: Azam, Lloyd 2, Simpson-Daniel
Cons: Lamb 2
Pens: LambBristol (0) 0
Gloucester took a five-point lead at the top of the Premiership as they thrashed neighbours Bristol in front of a sell-out 16,500 crowd at Kingsholm.
The hosts stormed clear through first-half tries from hooker Olivier Azam and replacement centre Leon Lloyd.
Wing James Simpson-Daniel scorched over from 50 metres and Lloyd's second try ended any hopes of a Bristol fightback.
Gloucester lost centre Mike Tindall with what appeared to be a calf muscle problem after 13 minutes.
Tindall missed England's World Cup campaign after failing to recover in time from a broken leg sustained on club duty last April.
England head coach Brian Ashton plans to name his Six Nations squad on 9 January, although Tindall's primary target will be to recover in time for another derby, against his former club Bath next Friday night.
Gloucester have now won eight out of nine in the league, despite a poor place-kicking display from fly-half Ryan Lamb on Saturday.
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He missed five shots at goal in total, although he did create the first try when his accurate kick over the advancing Bristol defence found Lloyd, who was on for Tindall, unmarked.
Gloucester did not have it all their own way, with Bristol regularly unleashing powerful runners Andrew Blowers and Alife To'oala, but when it came to creativity, the mid-table visitors finished a poor second.
Gloucester now head for close rivals Bath, who are no longer alongside them at the top after losing to Wasps.
Gloucester boss Dean Ryan:
"We looked very complete today, and we took our opportunities. There was a maturity about how to impose ourselves on the game. "In performance terms, at the end of the year, I am pretty pleased."
Ryan on Mike Tindall:
"We are not overly concerned about Mike. We will see how he is in 24 hours. He has had a bang on his leg, which has given him some nerve reaction." Bristol boss Richard Hill:
"We decided to play against the wind in the first half, but at 15-0 down it became a bit of a struggle after that. "We gifted them a couple of silly tries and conceded a lot of soft penalties.
"All round, we weren't quite to our normal standard. We've had some tough matches, and today might have been a game too far.
"We caught Gloucester on a good day, and we just didn't have enough in the tank."
Gloucester: Walker, Simpson-Daniel, Tindall, Allen, Vainikolo, Lamb, Lawson; Wood, Azam, Califano, Bortolami (c), Brown, Strokosch, Qera, Narraway.
Replacements: Paul, Forster, James, Buxton, Prendergast, Paterson, Lloyd.
Bristol: L Arscott; T Arscott, Higgitt, Cox, Lemi; Hill, O'Riordan; Clarke, Linklater, Crompton; Winters, Hohneck; Salter (c), To'oala, Blowers.
Replacements: Regan, Hilton, Attwood, El Abd, Thomas, Barnes, Elliott
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