In lovely conditions both teams initially looked as if they were playing amidst a howling autumn gale.  Ross kicked the ball dead from his own half and Bristol somehow contrived to give away a penalty at the scrum which followed.  Ross, clearly embarrassed, stepped inside the Bristol defender to make a half break that caught Bristol offside.  He obviously had the range and made it 3 – 0 with a neat penalty kick.  Bristol then made a break as the unfairly maligned Lee Robinson made a good break and then chipped over the defence.  This time Saracens gave away the penalty but Jason Strange was surprisingly off target.

Bristol then gave away a free-kick at the scrum and Andy Farrell took play to Bristol.  As the move broke down Bristol were well offside at the ruck and Ross made no mistake with his penalty kick and it was 6 – 0 to the home team.  Patient play from Bristol then gave Bristol an attacking scrum after an adroit chip from Tom Arscott.  A free-kick then went Bristol’s way but it was taken illegally and the chance went begging.  Saracens then struggled on their own put in to give Bristol another chance.  Inevitably Saracens took this scrum against the head! Bristol were still on the attack and Robinson showed his strength as he took the ball through the defence.  He had momentarily outpaced his support but once again showed his critics how much he has developed by freeing the ball at the breakdown for the Bristol pack to control.  Saracens gave a way a penalty which Strange kicked to touch.  The lineout was won but appeared to be pulled down before the drive went in.  Still Bristol had the ball and went through several phases without being able to make the crucial breakthrough.  The referee had been playing a very long advantage for the initial Saracens offence at the lineout and he called play back for both a Bristol penalty and a yellow card for Hugh Vyvyan.  Bristol again went for the lineout and this time the catch and drive was unstoppable.  ‘Magically’, the ball was touched down by David Blaney.  Strange hit the post with the conversion attempt but the gap was now just one point: 6 – 5.

Saracens took play back to the Bristol 22 right from the restart and Bristol gave away a foolish penalty to enable Ross to move his side further ahead to 9 – 5.  The impressive sight of Cencus Johnstone dancing round Arscott presaged an exciting move.  Johnstone fed the ball on to Thrower who made cut a good angle to get close to the line before another try-saving tackle from Rob Higgitt.  In contrast to last weekend the support was on hand and Ratuvou picked up to go over for a try that was duly converted for a deserved 16 – 5 lead.  Another penalty soon followed as Bristol were miles offside and it was 19 – 5.  Strange took his chance to narrow the gap to 19 – 8 as the half drew to a close.  The last action saw Arscott forced to field the ball on his own try line and then beat three attackers including the speeding form of Johnstone!  A close escape for Bristol.

The second half began promisingly for Bristol with Saracens giving away a penalty following another good Robinson run.  Strange was, as in the first half, wide with his effort.  Bristol had the chance to maintain pressure when Saracens knocked-on but were unable to make anything of the opportunity as the game entered a curious phase.  It almost appeared as if both sides weren’t taking the competition terribly seriously at this point and much of the ensuing play was, frankly pretty dull and insipid.  A brief interlude of excitement saw Arscott break through two tackles and make 30 metres before the defence closed him down with a try seemingly on the cards.  Saracens upped the pace somewhat when they run back a poor David Hill kick into the Bristol 22.  The referee showed consistency when he promptly yellow carded Brian O’Riordan for failing to roll away at the tackle.  With Bristol down to 14 men Saracens took the penalty quickly and kept Bristol under pressure.  Their ambition went unrewarded when they were penalised just a metre or so short.

It was a brief respite however.  Vyvyan soon broke one tackle and then went over the line with two despairing tacklers clinging to him and it was 26 – 8 after the formality of the conversion by Jackson.  Poor Bristol lineout work allowed Saracens to mount a neat move that allowed Seymour to go over the line under the posts.  Jackson again made no mistake and it was 33 – 8.  Saracens had by now appeared to realise that a try scoring bonus point was on the cards and that it might make all the difference to their approach to playing Llanelli.  It was therefore somewhat against the run of play when it was Bristol who were next to trouble the scoreboard.  Bristol got down to the Saracens 22 and Blaney took the ball on quickly and drove over beneath the posts.  Strange made no mistake with the conversion and it was 33 – 15.

The bonus point try for Saracens could not be long delayed though.  They won good lineout ball and a big miss pass set Ratuvou free to romp over in the corner to make it 38 – 15 after the conversion attempt was missed.  Bristol were further humiliated just before the final whistle when the Saracens pack took a leaf from Bristol’s coaching manual and launched a catch and drive at the Bristol line.  They all piled over and replacement Kyriacou claimed the try.  The conversion was the final action of the game and it made the final score 45 – 15.