The away day to the hugely impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was an unbelievable experience and provided both fans and players with a sharp reminder of the direction in which the Bears project is going.
We feared a shellacking but ultimately ended up disappointed with only a single point reminding us that we never, ever, want to queue for a pint outside a temporary bar at Hartpury College again!
Being invited by Saracens to their big day out was one thing but to take a team dripping with internationals and big-match experience to the wire shows that, despite our disappointing season, we do have the players, the game plan and the desire to complete at the highest level.
The whole team deserve credit but particular mention must go to the trio of understudies in Antoine Frisch, Tiff Eden and Rich Lane who not only proved they can perform on the big stage but are now providing serious competition for places, as well as contracts.
We’ve experienced the full gamut of emotions this season but on Saturday the overwhelming feeling was one of immense pride.
Pride in the efforts of players, pride in the manner in which we play rugby and pride in the wearing of the jersey. In fact, arriving in London on the train and seeing the station littered with an array of Bristol shirts of all colours and sizes certainly highlighted the fact that Paddington was definitely a Bear!
Like all great sporting encounters the game ebbed and flowed in a febrile atmosphere, but ultimately came down to one crucial moment. Joe Joyce will forever rue the timing of his pass and the irony is that if he had done that at any other time in the game it might easily have been forgotten.
But fine margins are the precipice that provide the narrow boundary between victory and defeat and unfortunately for Joe and those of us there it will be forever filed in the ‘what might have been' folder.
However, learning to live with those fine margins is what makes a team go from good to great and there’s no doubt that Saturday’s experience will set the club up for a serious crack at the Champions Cup and who knows, having travelled to London in March it could be Marseilles in May?
