Plenty of encouraging signs for Bears despite Champions Cup defeat

THE gourmet feast of rugby dished up at Ashton Gate on Saturday served to remind us where we really are on a road to rugby redemption. Gifting a team of thunderous runners like Clermont a 21-point lead is a hard lesson and to progress further we need to learn fast.

At the highest level the finest margins on the pitch can quickly create larger ones on the scoreboard. A missed tackle, an intercepted pass or a late arrival at the breakdown and suddenly you are looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat. However, even though the game was essentially over after the first quarter, the rest of it was quite encouraging for Bears fans.

First, there were times when the beasts from the Massif Central region of France were outplayed by the beauty of the Bristol system; and I’m sure the Claremont defence coach will not be pleased about conceding five tries. Secondly, we finished strongly, which shows that we have both the physical and mental strength for this level of competition. Finally, some of our least experienced players grew visibly throughout the game.

Piers O’Conor found his swagger in midfield after a shaky start, and Harry Randall was consistently fearless in the face of human beings nearly twice his size! Furthermore, Joycey, Jake Woolmore and Ed Holmes were more than solid in the engine room and, while the commentators were raving about Raka in the first half, they were positively purring about Purdy in the second. His transition from Championship loan signing to European regular in less than a year is incredible and how he has developed so rapidly is credit to both the mindset of the player and the skills of the coaching team.

Connacht now await, a fixture that would have served up a tremendous atmosphere in normal times, given the link between our two clubs. To paraphrase a famous manager from the round game, “rugby is nothing without fans”, a fact of which we were sharply reminded before kick off with the poignant tribute to the promising North Bristol RFC youngster Luke Wheaton, who tragically lost his life with three others in the Avonmouth explosion. A return to fans in the stadium cannot come soon enough. Come on Bris’.

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