Ten days ago, Bristol Bears stepped out onto the pitch in Newcastle as unbeaten league leaders with the hope that some of the issues from season had been addressed, if not fully dealt with.
Unfortunately, as they trotted mournfully off the Ashton Gate turf on Friday night, after shipping 50 points to Exeter Chiefs and succumbing to a record-breaking home Premiership defeat, it was crystal clear that Bristol are still a million miles away from being consistent performers at the highest level.
The progress of our south west neighbours has always been the template, ever since that heart-breaking night at the Memorial Stadium 12 years ago when they consigned us to further years of rugby purgatory and started their own journey up the Premiership mountain.
In recent seasons we have performed well against them mainly by matching their intensity, grit and determination but on Friday night we folded like a pack of cards and looked like a busted flush.
After a reasonable, if not error-strewn first half the second was as painful a watch as you are likely to see. I don’t know what is more disappointing, exerting pressure but failing to convert it into points or simply failing to exert any pressure at all. One gives you hope and then kills it and the other just leaves you empty. Either way it highlighted major deficiencies in a number of key areas around performance, attitude and game plan.
Where the Chiefs were organised, we were disconnected, where their box kicks landed on the money, ours drifted long and where their pick-and-go’s consistently gained precious yards, ours were stopped in their tracks. They had a clear plan whereas we appeared to be playing without an identity and like Brizzley the mascot, the ‘Bears way’ seems to have gone missing in action.
So where do we go from here? An away trip to Kingsholm will certainly focus the minds and although the Shed will no doubt take great pleasure in reminding both the payers and the travelling fans of these recent failings, hopefully that energy will be channelled back into a more focused, determined and clinical performance. It will require some serious ‘bouncebackability’ from everyone but we all need to keep the faith and get back on the horse as quickly as possible!
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