The Bears scored eight tries and put 50 past Bath in their last game before the two-month lay-off and, with a resurgent Harry Randall setting the tone, are now attacking with an elan and panache that is hard to resist.
They were certainly too good for a Saints side that looked very rusty, albeit their England contingent were largely missing. They won’t be happy though, this was more like the flaky performances that marred last season.
Bristol made the quickest start with a charge down try by lock Joe Batley after promising England U20 scrum-half Archie McParland took too long over his kick.
McParland, making his first Premiership start, was greeted with a vicious little sleet storm in the opening minutes and confronted with a hard counter rucking Bristol pack that made life hell for the next 80 minutes.
He was lucky moments later when a pretty cynical looking tackle on Randall without the ball was treated leniently as Saints made a miserably poor start.
This story is from the March 24, 2024 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the March 24, 2024 edition of The Rugby Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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