Bears Beyond The Gate

In this week's show we reflect on the Bears' 29-17 win over Newcastle Falcons at Ashton Gate. With six front row players unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions it was a great result to win against the undefeated Falcons and bag a four-try bonus point. We also look ahead to the big westcountry  derby next week against Exeter Falcons. With players returning from injury and mandated rest p...

In this week's show we review Bristol Bears 27-19 win away against Harlequins. Once again it needed a marked improvement in the second half to claim the five points and our first league win at The Stoop in nearly 20 years.  We look forward to the home game against Newcastle on New Year’s Day with a little help from our friends at the Folk on Falcons podcast. How do Newcastle play, who to look...

In this show we talk about Bristol's 27-18 win away at Connacht in the Champions Cup. After a dull, error-strewn first 40 minutes the Bears stepped up a gear to bag a bonus-point win against Pat Lam's former employers. We discuss what this win means for our European campaign on a weekend where several games were forfeited by teams unable to play due to COVID-19 infections. We also look a...

In this week's show we take a look at the 38-51 home defeat against Clermont in the opening round of the Champions Cup. After a 12-year wait, Bristol Bears are once again playing in Europe's elite club competition. We talk about what went wrong at the Gate: were the Bears under par or were Clermont just too strong? In an interview with the people behind the Craggy Rugby Podcast we get an...

In this show we reflect on Bristol's narrow 18-17 win against Northampton Saints at Ashton Gate. It wasn't pretty but we just managed to get over the line for our second win of the season. We look ahead to our Champions Cup game against Clermont Auvergne next week, our first fixture in this competition for 12 years. Giving us a French insight is special guest, Veronique Landew, the host...

In this special 50th edition we talk to Pat Lam, Bristol's inspirational Director of Rugby. Pat talks about building a winning culture, the impact of the Autumn Nations Cup call ups and when we will see our international players back wearing a Bristol shirt again. We also give our thoughts on Bristol's 30-13 win over Worcester Warriors at Ashton Gate and we preview the next game at home...

The boys are back with a new season of Bears Beyond The Gate. In this episode we review the narrow defeat to Wasps in the opening league game. A wasted opportunity with Wasps snatching victory in the dying minutes, or a sterling effort with 17 players unavailable through international duty and injuries? We take a look ahead to the next game at home to Worcester. Will Pat keep faith with the 23 tha...

In the season finale we take a look back over the past 14 months at the games, the players and the stand out moments for Bristol Bears.  Thanks to a delayed start due to the 2019 Rugby World Cup; the Saracens points deduction for salary cup breaches; and the COVID-19 pandemic this has been a season like no other.  But with 24 wins from 36 competitive games and the European Challenge Cup in the Bea...

Welcome to this week's podcast in this historic week for the Bears following our 32-19 victory over French giants Toulon. We review the game, the performances and what this European Challenge Cup win means to Bears fans around the world.  As well as the game we talk about some of the pre-match news including the new black and pink kit for the big game and Steven Luatua's last-minute with...

In this week's show we take a look at the 47-24 playoff semi-final defeat away at Wasps. After the longest league season ever, was this a game too far for the brave Bears. Hear our thoughts on the match, player performances and one or two debatable referring decisions!  We also look ahead to the European Challenge Cup Final against Toulon on Friday. How will the defeat at Wasps affect the tea...

In this show the boys comment on a remarkable week for Bristol Bears with a 40-3 home win on Wednesday against Leicester followed by a 36-7 win away at London Irish. Two victories, ten points and a top-four place guaranteed. But with Sale's game with Worcester controversially postponed to next Wednesday after 19 players and officials test positive for COVID-19 we speculate on who are semi-fin...

In this week's show we talk about the dramatic European Challenge Cup semi-final against Bordeaux. Once again it was a slow start at Ashton Gate before Bristol came back from 0-13 down to lead 20-13 deep into the second half. But a late Bordeaux try took the game into extra time at 20-20. The Bears powered through the extra 20 minutes to win 37-20 and seal a first ever European final. What a...

This week we reflect on Bristol Bears convincing 56-17 win against Dragons in the European Challenge Cup at Ashton Gate. Bristol were slow to start but when they got going the rugby was spellbinding at times. Listen to who we think stood out and what this win means for the club. We also look forward to the upcoming semi-final against Bordeaux Begles and wonder if Pat will keep faith with the 23-ma...

In this show we review the 47-10 mid-week home win against Northampton Saints. Some outstanding individual performances and possibly the best try ever scored at Ashton Gate by Bristol. We then move on to the away game against Wasps where a much changed Bristol team went down 59-35 having coughed up 26 points in an error-strewn first quarter. But five tries, a bonus point and an outstanding perform...

In this week’s show we talk about breaking the Curse of Sixways with Bristol’s 36-13 win at Worcester.  We preview the midweek game agsinst Northampton and wonder if it will be a second string XV that make the trip to Wasps five days after that.  There’s also chat about the European cups format for next season, the new England kit and why does Callum Sheedy keep hitting the woodwork!  Let us know...

In this week's show we discuss the Bears' seven-game winning streak hitting the buffers with a home defeat against Exeter Chiefs followed by a big loss away at Sale. Did Pat get his squad selections right for the two games in five days? We preview the away game at Worcester and debate how the squad will be used with three league games and a cup quarter final squeezed into less than three...

In this week's show we review the memorable 24-33 victory over Gloucester at Kingsholm. This is Bristol Bears first win their since 2006 and we once again retain the Rifles Cup. New signing Semi Radradra caught the eye with a stunning first half performance but who else did we think had a good game. We discuss Pat's team selection for the first midweek fixture against Exeter Chiefs on Tu...

After five long months, Tony, Lee, Miles and Pete have an actual game of rugby to discuss! And what a game. It wasn't pretty but Bristol Bears pull off a memorable 16-12 victory over reigning champions Saracens. We look at performances, tactics, what worked and what didn't. We then look ahead to Friday night's trip up the M5 to take on Gloucester at Kingsholm. We give our thoughts a...

In this week's show we (at long last) have a proper game of rugby to preview! We give our thoughts on the squad to take on Saracens at Ashton Gate on Saturday and reveal our score predictions. There's the arrival of scrum half Tom Kessell who joins for the rest of the season to cover for the injured Chris Cook We also discuss the timing and content of last week's announcement regard...

In this week's show Tony, Lee and Pete discuss the first four games of the rescheduled season and give their predictions for the games against Saracens, Gloucester, Exeter and Sale. With no crowds expected in sporting grounds until October at the earliest the boys debate the need for some clarity from the club on refunds for season card holders and people who have bought match tickets. Pete i...

In this week's show we talk about the new coaching setup with the arrival of new scrum and defence coaches. There's also the resigning of Irish hooker, Bryan Byrne and Luke Hamilton finds a new club across the Channel. Monday 6 July saw the return to level 2 training and the magnificent new Failand training facility open and ready for business. We discuss how good it was to see the big-n...

The boys are back and discuss the salary cap arrangements for the next few seasons. A climbdown by Bristol or a clever compromise that will protect the Bears squad? When the season starts will we see all games played or a compromise fixture list like the PRO 14? With Bristol city's new Hummel training kit all over social media we ask when will we see something from Umbro for Bristol Bears. Th...

In this week's episode the boys talk about the retained list for next year with 19 senior players departing. Do we have the depth of squad to compete next season? We also talk about the target to resume the Premiership on 15 August and what the knock on effect will be for the 2020/21 season. There's also news of a victory over Bath, an upcoming Bears quiz and Nathan Hughes' new fash...

In this episode we talk about the arrival Siva Naulago who joins from rugby league club Hull FC. Is he a bit of a gamble or shrewd move from Pat Lam? We also talk about three academy players stepping up to senior contracts and the new intake of players to the Integrated Academy and the new Academy Scholars programme. We also discuss Steve Lansdown's letter in support of the salary cap and mar...

In this episode the boys talk about the arrival of Chris Cook from Bath and wonder where he will fit in the scrum-half pecking order and discuss the departure of Joe Batley to Worcester Warriors. There's also news of Aly Muldowney's next move in the world of rugby. With the Umbro announcement made last week we ponder on the term 'Technical Kit Partner' and wonder why this phras...