The Champions Cup continues to entertain Bears fans, with a trip to Parc y Scarlets for a good old Anglo Welsh ding-dong.
To underestimate this fine Welsh side, with no less than 399 Wales international caps in the starting XV, would be to discredit the great work Dwayne Peel, a former Bristol player, has done at Scarlets since his arrival as head coach.
Their class showed in this game, with some brutal running lines, amazingly organised rucks and nearly a cheeky interception from Welsh International, Liam Williams.
This side, so short of games this season showed up and they meant business. If it weren't for a disjointed campaign, I do believe their fitness levels would have matched Bristol's for the entire game.
However on the day, like a rejuvenated racehorse, our thoroughbreds, eyed up the finish line and demolished the opposition with, in my opinion, the performance of the season.
For 60 minutes of the game, the Welsh side played a very similar loose running style of rugby that produced two really well-worked tries. From phase after phase of relentless pick and go moves, the energetic Scarlets forwards looked dangerous.
But after two sublime first-half tries of our own, Bears fans had to wait for the last 20 minutes to see the boys really open up and score some quite frankly, filthy tries. If you blinked, you may have missed one try and another and another. This was champagne rugby and there was plenty of it waiting on ice with our team lapping it up.
Some remarkable performances from the returning injured players put a smile on my face so big, I almost forgot they had been off. This is testament to the medical team and Pat Lam, for his belief and careful management of their return.
As Pat eluded to last week, Siva Nualago for one had been given extended recuperation time, after his unfortunate lower arm fracture. I don't know how they did it, but either the army or clever surgeons seemed to have added a Wolverine-type exoskeleton to his body, that once more showed fans his amazingly strong and fast running lines on the wing.
With everyone fit, Saturday proved that once more, Bristol are a force to be scared of, very scared. I cannot wait for the next instalment…
