Saracens came away with a hard fought win at a cold and windy Memorial Ground in October, a match that could easily have gone to Bristol if it hadn’t been for some wayward kicking from Jarvis. Bristol put up a respectable fight that night and it seemed that their fortunes would improve as the season progressed.

The intervening three months have had Saracens showing indifferent form, particularly against the stronger Premiership teams, whilst Bristol's season has gone from bad to worse. As we all know, Saracens are a kind hearted bunch, offering encouragement to GP stragglers by gifting home matches completely against the form book. So it was with some trepidation that I took my seat on what turned out to be a relatively mild winter's day.

Eddie's video cameo before the match warned us that wounded animals can often be dangerous and that Saracens would need to be focused, but the Saracens team sheet was the recipe for an open, fast moving game rather than the tight controlled stuff played against London Irish. We had Brad Barritt starting at 12, with plenty of youth and pace throughout team.  Bristol were missing the highly talented Lemi (suspended by his club pending a disciplinary hearing for a contre-temps with Paul Diggin – do they still have midget wrestling in the West Country? Ed), but featured some gnarled old veterans up front and a lively back division.

From the start of match both teams were solid under the high ball, Saracens seemed to be playing with a flatter line, their passing was spirited and didn't come grinding to halt whenever it got to the centres. There was less of the usual battering ram technique from the centres, and more play along the wings. However, all was not well for Saracens, the set pieces were going awry, with Ongaro struggling to connect at the lineout and Bristol causing some problems in the scrum. Despite their frailties at first phase, Saracens were competing hard at the breakdown and were easily winning the kicking match with some accurate punts. All the Saracens backs looked assured kicking from hand, with Jackson at his imperious best. Meanwhile, Biggus' scrumcap appeared without fail whenever a ruck formed or a ball needed carrying. I do wonder if he has negotiated some sort of 'piece-rate' bonus, as his appetite for work is quite astonishing.

After ten minutes, following a period of sustained pressure in the Bristol twenty two, Aguero smashed through the Bristol defence to score a try. Aguero scoring is an uncommon sight, indeed it was his first for the club and he received a solid round of applause from the supporters. Jackson converted a difficult touch line kick to make the score 7- 0.

Saull emerged from broken play in the centre of the pitch barely five minutes later and made a blistering break through the Bristol defence, passing the ball to Barritt close to the try line. Barritt duly ran under the posts and the score was 14 – 0.

It all seemed quite easy for Saracens, but the flat line, quick passing and occasional fumbles were altogether too much like the Gaffer's style in times gone by. Surely, next up would be an interception try, or other moment of madness, so often seen in the last two seasons? The Saracens centre pairing was distributing the ball faster and wider, but they didn't have the certainty of execution that comes after a few matches.

In the event, it wasn't an interception try but a needless forward pass in the twenty two from the restart that was Saracens' undoing.  Bristol certainly had the upper hand in the first few scrums, and from the subsequent scrum they worked a slick sequence of moves which stretched the Saracens defence to breaking point. Linklater scored in the corner, with Barnes duly making a good conversion. The forward pass was one of a number of silly errors that occurred in the Saracens twenty two during the match, each one putting unnecessary pressure onto the team. On another day, against a more confident opponent, the cost could have been higher than seven points.

The play up to half time was fairly hard-grinding stuff. After the match Eddie put this down to cold hands and the chill in the air, which was probably partly true, although it seemed that Saracens lacked the precision and confidence to execute running rugby.  However, Saracens have plenty of players who can provide a solid forward game, they pressurised a dogged Bristol defence with a combination of aggressive rucking and accurate kicking. The tight play yielded a series of three penalties that Jackson duly converted into points.  

At half time Sarries were more than two converted tries ahead, and could only lose the match by going AWOL, which was still quite possible, as witnessed against Wasps. (To plagiarise another Jones-the-quote, ‘they defend a lead the way my mother does the pole vault’, Ed) The second half started much as the first had ended, continued pressure from Saracens with Bristol pinned in their half. However, it was Bristol that picked up three points from a penalty kick by Barnes.

Sarries response was a searing run from Haughton, who was making the most of the passes to the wings that improved in quality as the match progressed, however he was held up just short of the line. Ongaro, not to be outdone by his Italian brother-in-arms, decided to show the girlie backs how to get over the try line, but was adjudged to have knocked on as he placed the ball. Fortunately for Saracens, a prior infringement by Bristol was penalised, which was turned into a five metre line out from Jackson's boot. Saracens worked an embarrassingly simple 'training ground' catch and drive from the front of the line, which saw Skirving scoring in the corner. The try, which can be seen in 'coach's cut' on Sarries TV, proves that simple moves can also be effective. With Jackson making yet another touchline conversion, the score was 30-10 at fifty minutes.

Bristol hung on with fierce determination and, during one of their infrequent sorties into Saracens’ half, picked up a further three points from a penalty.  This period of the game saw Ongaro substituted for Andy Kyriacou with an immediate improvement to the Saracens set pieces. More seriously, it also saw de Kock collapsing in distress with an arm injury. At the time it looked like a dislocated finger, but it has subsequently been diagnosed as a broken arm and a lengthy lay off for one of Sarries’ most able and reliable workhorses. We can consider ourselves very fortunate to have a player as talented as Moses available to fill the gap.

The agenda for Saracens from early in the game was a bonus point although these have been hard to come by this season. Given the stiff opposition in future rounds of the Guinness Premiership, it was imperative to collect every point on offer. 

Despite a spate of substitutions, both sides remained locked in a tough fight, Vyvyan in particular seeming to lift the standard of play.  On the seventy five minute mark Saracens again found themselves with a lineout close to the Bristol try line.  The pick and drive, which was hauntingly similar in execution to the Skirving try, resulted in Borthwick being bundled over the line in the face of some determined defending by Bristol. A first Saracens try for the co-captain, and the bonus point secured; Ross's fine conversion gave a final score of 37 – 13.

So, Saracens got their bonus point win, but not without a considerable amount of puffing and panting.  Based on current form, talk of a top four finish seems a little fanciful and, with Irish on fire and Saints performing well at home, the European Challenge Cup is not going to be an easy route into the senior European competition. Barritt's performance was heartening, along with the way that Saracens steadily improved throughout the match, even with the numerous substitutions. However, the untidy play and numerous fumbles would have been punished more harshly by opposition such as Leicester or Bath.

For our friends at Bristol, your team is only a few percent away from being competitive with half the Premiership. We all know how hard it is to find that small improvement when player confidence is low, but we all wish you well.

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