Like a bus that finally arrives after a frustrating delay despite a clearly published timetable, Bristol Bears’ first league win at Ashton Gate for what seemed like a lifetime, was greeted with much relief.
It wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination but there was a structure and solidity in both attack and defence (restarts aside!) that helped deliver the victory and transport the club off the bottom of the table.
Given the way the Premiership campaign has gone so far I did have some doubts before the game, particularly with respect to the size of Newcastle’s pack, but there were no complaints about the effort that was put in over the 80 minutes which perhaps went some way to alleviating some of the claims in the week that Pat Lam’s job was on the line.
