By Duncan Wood
August 29 2002

Ross Beattie will lead out the Bristol Shoguns side for the first team in league action this coming Sunday. Both teams will be desperate to get off to a winning start especially Bristol in front of their own crowd.

So, it's back to league action this weekend as Bristol start their league season off with a home game against Saracens.

The games between these two sides were really close last season with the away team winning on both occasions.

Sarries triumped at the Memorial Stadium back in December 2001 by 25 points to 22 despite Bristol leading 10-0 after 10 minutes. Luke Smith ran the game for Saracens that day and Bristol badly missed Felipe Contepomi and Agustin Pichot who were on international duty.

In the return fixture on the last day of the regular season, a youthful looking Bristol side overturned the odds and sneaked a victory with the last kick of the match, a Felipe Contepomi penalty. Brendon Daniel took a certain amount of delight in scoring against his old side!

You have to go back to 1999 to find the last time that Bristol beat Saracens at home when a Henry Honiball inspired second half diaply saw Bristol romp to a 45-22 win with tries for Jamie Mayer and James Ogilvie-Bull amongst others.

That's all history, however, and it's now that counts. Sarries have rung the changes over the summer both on and off the field. Wayne Shelford has arrived and brought the Pienaar era to a close. He'll add some steel to the set up.

Big names such as Califano, Quinnell, Goode, Williams and Little have arrived and they'll be hoping that Thomas Castaignede is back for good from his injury nightmares.

On the flipside, Scott Murray as left as have Luke Smith and Jannie de Beer. Christian Califano has injured an ankle and hooker Robbie Russell is out until October.

They still possess undoubted class in the squad with the likes of Richard Hill and Kyran Bracken and will be desperate to get their season off to a winning start.

Bristol have had a quiet, fairly uneventful preseason after the post Twickenham turmoil but the spirit looks very good in the camp. The long odds against them quoted by the bookmakers are providing an incentive to prove people wrong.

Having Ross Beattie back is like signing a new player and the likes of Julian White and Alex Brown will be vastly improved after their ankle surgeries.

One question mark is who is going to fill the boots of Jason Little at inside centre. It's a pivotal position and someone will have to rise to the occasion.

Bristol will probably seek to create a strangehold on possession using their big, powerful pack and establish a platform for the young backs out wide. They'll be conscious of Saracens' counter attacking qualities, however. Turnover ball cost Bristol a lot of tries last season.

A full preseason working with Peter Thorburn and an enthusiastic home crowd should cheer Bristol home narrowly.