It has been the midfield that has determined Bristol’s on field record since the start of professionalism. Although the truism that “forwards win matches, backs decide by how much” cannot be debated, the “how much” question has been central to Bristol’s fortunes.

Bristol have had no problems in turning out monster packs capable of winning their own ball and stealing some of the opposition’s. As the game teetered on the edge of professionalism in the early ‘90s Bristol’s generally home grown forwards ate the opposition for breakfast. Some were survivors of the last golden generation of Bristolians – Peter Stiff, Dave Palmer and even John Doubleday were there or thereabouts from the teams who contested the 1980s cup finals.

They were supplemented by players who demanded England caps that were criminally never won – Derek Eves, Paul Collings, and Andy Blackmore – while Alan Sharp and Dave Hilton did go on to international honours, although, somewhat oddly as it transpired, with Scotland.

It was in the backs that Bristol came up short. With Simon Hogg at the end of his career, Bristol struggled for several seasons for a fly half to do something with the ball that they inevitably won. Simon Painter was tried, as long as his body stayed intact, Neil Matthews came down from Gloucester, Arwel Thomas flitted in and out, but it was the more workaday talents of Mark Tainton that Bristol settled upon as the game progressed.

Tainton had his qualities. He was a dependable, if not spectacular, goal kicker. However, he never provided the spark that Bristol’s backs needed that if they were to prosper on the pitch as the game went pro.

This might have been less of concern if Bristol had had a creative inside centre. The importance of this role has become obvious in recent years. Mike Catt was a vital cog when Brian Ashton coached England’s backs to their most exciting style of play in the early 2000s. Clive Woodward’s first choice 10/12 combination would have seen Wilkinson paired with Hodgson, until the latter broke his leg against Italy in 2003. Catt alongside Wilkinson was an essential component of England’s World Cup win.

Alongside Tainton Bristol ranged a number of centres, but the emphasis was the bludgeon rather than the rapier. Justin Redrupp came and went, to be followed by uber-Bristolian Kevin Maggs. It was Maggs who took the field alongside Tainton’s replacement Paul Burke when Bristol lost their first relegation decided to London Scottish in 1998. Bristol went into the second tier, and Maggs went on to seventy international caps.

By then Bristol’s pack was a shadow of its former self, but the failure to find a creative player at either 10 or 12 was central to Bristol’s lack of playing success in the 1990s, which eventually contributed to their decline.

A cursory glance down the road makes the point. Bristol and B**h clashes were keenly contested affairs in which the Bristol pack matched and often overcame their counterparts. B**h could boast players of the quality of De Glanville, Guscott, Halliday and Barnes in their midfield. While Bristol’s players were honest and hardworking, it was often left to Ralph Knibbs alone to provide the inspiration. Thus, Bristol would find themselves at the end of narrow defeats as the talent in the B**h backline would work out a single decisive score for a Geoghegan or a Swift, breaking the deadlock between the packs.

With the arrival of Bob Dwyer under Malcolm Pearce a serious effort was made to add quality to the midfield axis. Paul Hull filled in at 10 but the Australian head coach brought in his compatriot David Knox and Samoan centre George Leaupepe. Neither played enough in that promotion year to justify the investment, but Bristol had demonstrated their intent.

Back in the premiership Pearce’s money bought in one of the biggest names Bristol had seen in Henry Honiball. Of undoubted class, Honiball proved his worth in a number of games, but injury forced his retirement and return to South Africa.

While Bristol were attracting the kind of midfield backs necessary, the club was failing to retain them, which hampered their progress.

Next up were Australian double world cup winner Jason Little and the then unknown Argentine Felipe Contepomi. These two proved their worth as the linked perfectly to power Bristol to an unexpected appearance in the 2002 Premiership Play Off Final.

Yet, at the end of that season Little retired,and Bristol were left looking around again. They settled on All Black Daryl Gibson, but any impact he might have had was lost in the debacle of 2002/03

Richard Hill obviously recognised the importance of his midfield, but it was perhaps the area where most of his failed investments were found. Manuel Contepomi performed well in the 2003/04 promotion season, but left the mysteriously left the club soon after promotion. Hill successively tried Bristol old boys Denney and Maggs, but neither had the desired impact and moved on.

At fly half the club brought in All Black David Hill, but he failed to live up to his billing. Perhaps some of the reason was the players outside of him. Cox and Higgitt are good players, but perhaps the Bristol centre pairing required some genuine class for Bristol’s top three finish of 2005/06 to have become a regular occurrence. That Bristol recognised this was shown by their ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of Olly Barklay.

With a midfield weaker then their premiership rivals and an ageing pack unable to make up for this deficiency, Bristol were relegated in 2009. That they had a chance of an immediate return owed much to Adrian Jarvis’s ability to get his backline moving, and centres that were better than those they came up against.

To describe the 2010/11 season as an important one in the history of the club is an understatement. Bristol need to regroup and be competitive if they are to shake off the disappointment of last year and find themselves in a position to deal with the issues of the ground and the investment necessary for the club to re-establish itself. Retaining Jarvis, Fatiolofa and Barnes could be crucial.

In the last two decades Bristol did not build on the legacy of “rugby Bristol fashion” to build teams with the midfield ability necessary to put the club at the top of the game. Relying on forward power can only take you so far, and it’s also fair to say Bristol squandered some of the money it laid out on inside centres and fly halves.

The challenges of the season ahead are many, but one of them will be to construct a durable and reliable 10/12 partnership which provides the basis not just for stability in this league, but a spark to kick on to the top of it.

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