By Ian Todd
September 2 2013

The opening preseason clash with B**h showed Bristol how big the gulf between Premiership and Championship is with both Bristol sides ultimately slipping to a 69 – 5 defeat.

The first half saw Bristol manage to string together a few moves and score a nicely worked try from Fautua Otto.  It was B**h who looked by far the sharper, reacting more quickly than the visitors, although lacking any real creativity in midfield.  The packs seemed reasonably well matched, certainly in the set piece, but again the B**h forwards appeared just that bit quicker and more alert.

 

The second half saw two different sides take the field, with some positional changes (including Ben Mosses to fullback, which may be an indicator of the paucity of resources in that position).  A rejigged B**h pack took control and Bristol, although competing gamely, had no answer as B**h racked up the points.

It’s disappointing to lose so heavily, but it was just a practice match that we had to pay to see.  The coaches and players will, hopefully, have learnt from the experience.  There were plenty of errors from Bristol but you could see some potential there, more dynamism and accuracy (and familiarity!) will see better performances and results.  I’d rather we got thumped now than come away with a creditable narrow loss that gives us a false perspective on where we stand.