It’s really hard to know what to say about the defeat to Saracens on Saturday. On balance, it was an excellent performance from the Bears – the set piece was rock solid, the attack looked dangerous and with six minutes to go they were leading by 11 points and relatively comfortable – but somehow, excruciatingly, they conspired to lose and lets be clear, it was lost by Bristol rather than won by Saracens.
Yes, the league leaders had to score twice to nudge ahead, and whilst they were given the chance to do that, you could also argue they shouldn’t have been close enough to make those tries significant in the first place. However, the fact remains that when Bristol’s overall performance demanded composure and focus to deliver the right result, discipline and decision-making went missing, and the inability to game manage the last ninety seconds cost them dearly.
