In warm but windy conditions Bristol started the league campaign with David Hill missing a straightforward kick to touch.  Was this an omen?  Seemingly not as Bristol applied the early pressure to keep pay-off Champions Leicester pinned back.  Both sides were making handling and kicking errors.  However, the wind was with Bristol and Hill went for a long range penalty attempt which was narrowly wide.  Lee Robinson made good ground from the drop out and another penalty went Bristol’s way.  Hill made no error with this effort and it was 3 – 0 with 10 minutes gone. 

Leicester swiftly hit back with a neat kick down to the corner of the clubhouse and Centenary terraces.  Matt Salter claimed the lineout win.  Leicester were penalised.  The kick went to touch but the throw at the lineout was astray and Tigers swept into the attack.  The ball went along the line with Leicester maintaining possession.  Back it came and Sam Vesty fed Ayoola Erinle who managed to twist through some weak tackles to score under the posts.  Former Bristol favourite Paul Burke slotted the easy conversion to make it 3 – 7 after 15 minutes.  The lead was to prove short lived when Hill launched a kick that was carried on the wind to sow disarray in the Leicester defence.

The ball went loose and was claimed by the determined Josh Taumalolo.  The ball went to Neil Brew who got it to the less-pale-than-normal Robinson, who had run into the middle in support.  He saw the hint of a gap and powered over the try line.  Despite the attentions of three defenders he had both the strength and length of arm to just touch down as they strove to hold him upright and force him over the dead ball line.  10 – 7 to Bristol after Hill’s conversion. The forwards now battled it out at the set-piece.  Three scrums stood up before the referees patience snapped and the penalty went to Leicester.  Given that Bristol seemed quite comfortable in the scrum and even won one against the head later in the game this looked an odd decision, but then even in the second row I never knew exactly why a scrum stood up.  The effort  by Burke was spot on to equalise the score at 10-all.  Bristol tried to outmuscle their opponents with some good driving play from the forwards. Exactly what the appointment of John Brain promised, but it came to naught when the referee adjudged there to have been a knock on by Bristol.  Leicester cleared their lines and kept Bristol under some pressure with  well directed kicks and a controlled display by the forwards.    

It was now that Bristol won a scrum against the head which led to a penalty.  The resulting lineout was very poor and enabled Leicester to attack from deep A penalty was their reward, but Burke was off target.  Bristol had another lineout opportunity but made a hash of it when Scott Linklater sent his throw into the ankle of the Leicester player at the front!  Eventually Bristol managed a lineout win and Joe El Abd broke from the maul and took play towards the try line.  Leicester infringed and the penalty kick, on the stroke of half time, was successful for a 13 – 10 lead that Bristol just about deserved.   

Leicester were to start the second half by kicking to Salter who fed Robinson.  Bristol though gave away penalty close to the half way line which the curiously envowled Johne Murphy struck superbly to bring the score to 13-all with just three minutes played.  Leicester now dominated possession and territory without quite fashioning a breakthrough.  One kick through went down to the Bristol in-goal area where a seemingly casual Taumalolo dropped on the ball to give 22 drop-out.  The pressure told when the ball was flipped back to Vesty who sent a well struck drop goal over to take Leicester into a deserved 13 – 16 lead.  With half an hour to go Bristol had plenty of time but an early opportunity to hit back went to waste as sloppy passing brought a good attacking move to a halt. Leicester were looking far more composed and better organised than Bristol.  A defensive kick from Taumalolo briefly excited the crowd when he followed it up with a shuddering, and barely legal, challenge on the Leicester defender.  A similar kick led to disaster however when Murphy caught the ball with one foot in touch and then took a quick lineout.  He fed the ball to Burke who chipped the Bristol defence and then re-gathered the ball as it sat up nicely for him.  He quickly passed to the supporting Tom Varndell who sped down the touchline to go over in the corner.  The man whose quick thinking had started the move converted the try for a 13 – 23 lead.  With the scores like this it was still possible for Bristol to get back into bonus point range. 

However, Bristol persisted in kicking possession away and only desperate defence kept Varndell out when he latched on to yet another wayward kick.  Inevitably the pressure told and Bristol conceded a penalty chance that Murphy slotted over to extend their lead to 13 – 26. Still there were 15 minutes to go and Bristol endeavoured to get back in touch.  Turnovers at the breakdown cost them dear and enabled the Leicester defence to soak up the Bristol pressure.  Despite this the last five minutes saw Leicester forced to defend resolutely and skilfully.  Robinson had a last chance as he received the ball in space but felt compelled by the lack of support to attempt to chip over the last defender who managed to gather the ball and elude the onrushing Bristol winger.  Some in the crowd bemoaned Robinson’s lack of faith in his own ability to take on the defender ball in hand, but in fairness I felt it likely that he would have been tackled and he was isolated.  Bristol continued to work close to the Leicester line but poor handling and decision making allowed Leicester to turnover possession and get the ball back downfield.  Once more Taumalolo looked somewhat casual as he went back to deal with the ball close to the line.  A last fruitless attempt by Bristol to escape Leicester defensive straitjacket saw the ball end up in touch with the countdown clock on zero. 

An entertaining first half was succeeded by a second in which Bristol failed to score.  Turnovers were conceded with surprising regularity and possession kicked away with either no follow-up or a penalty for being in front of the kicker.  On the positive side there were hints of the type of forward play Richard Hill has said John Brain can bring to Bristol when several driving mauls gained plenty of ground and forced the defenders back in disarray.  On the other hand it was a disappointing loss to a side shorn of a host of players.  I’ve long thought we would struggle this season and this performance did nothing to change my mind.  On to Sale who had a bit of hammering at Newcastle.   

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