The Bristol Bears hit back against Premiership leaders Exeter with an excellent set-piece move that saw Ireland international Ian Madigan put winger Ryan Edwards through a hole to score.
Bristol have won just four games this season but pushed the league leading Chiefs to the brink with Rob Baxter’s side leaving the Ashton Gate Stadium with a hard fought 12-10 win.
Brilliant from Bristol! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Odmwq5pSU7
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 26, 2019
Madigan left Leinster for Bordeaux after the 2016 season but quickly moved on to Bristol a year later and he said last year that envy of Johnny Sexton was part of the reason why he decided to leave Irish Rugby and move abroad.
“I was probably envious of what Johnny had with Ireland and Leinster,” Madigan told The Telegraph.
“I wanted to be that guy myself, to have that connection with the coaches, to be able to call the shots on the pitch, and that was a big reason why I left Leinster.”
Madigan also said that moving to a new club has helped him shake the mercurial tag that followed him throughout his career in Ireland.
The Dubliner spent seven seasons with the Leinster first team but said that moving to two new clubs provided him with an opportunity to redefine his perception as a player.
“When you are breaking into the system in Ireland, I was breaking in as a 20, 21 year-old and you can certainly get branded with certain tags,” he added. “It could be, ‘he is not a good tactical kicker’, or ‘he is not a good talker on the field’, or whatever it might be.
“While you might iron those parts out of your game as your career moves on, you can still be tagged with them if you have been at a club for six, seven, eight years.
“I do think going to a different club allows you to get a fresh start, I feel you can prove them in a new environment. Maybe I am not as much of a maverick as I used to be, maybe I am more of a consistent fly-half as I have gotten older. It is something I have been allowed to do.”
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