Bears Beyond The Gate

In this week's show we are joined by Lewis from the Shark Tank podcast as we look ahead to the game at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Will Pat send his strongest team or will we see some rotation as we head into the final three games of the regular season.  After the narrow loss at home to Sale this year and the trouncing a weaker Bears team took end the end of last season, do we have a score to settle?

Also in this edition we discuss the news that the top eight teams in the Premiership qualify for next seasons Champions Cup. Good to have extra teams in the competition, or devaluing the prestige of the tournament.

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It was the moment we'd all been waiting for as Ashton Gate opened the turnstiles once more to fans after 435 days away. In what will go down as one of the most memorable games for many a year, Bristol Bears recorded a comfortable 39-7 win against Gloucester.

The five-point win keeps Bristol top of the pile but, as well as the returning fans, this bizarre match will be remembered not so much for the five tries Bristol scored but the seven they didn't score! A combination of small handling errors and more TMO reviews than ever before kept the scoreline much lower than the scintillating rugby could have delivered.

We give our first-hand experiences of being back in the stadium and out thoughts on the match, tactics and player performances.

This Tuesday night special was recorded by Tony, Lee and Pete, as Miles is still 'missing in action'.

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In this week's show discuss Bristol's record league win against our old foes at the Rec. Despite gifting Bath a 15 point lead in the opening 30 minutes, the Bears came strong to record another bonus-point win to stay eight points clear at the top of the table. We discuss the tactics, performances and that Kyle Sinckler interview. 

We also look ahead to the visit of Gloucester on Monday 17 May as we welcome fans back into Ashton Gate. We talk to Ed Price form the Cherry Jam Podcast to get the lowdown on Gloucester and what we can expect from our rivals up the M5.

All this and more on this week's show with Tony, Lee, Miles and Pete,

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In this episode we talk about the prospects of a Bristol Bears win away at Bath. We get the inside track on our local rivals from our friends at Bath Bytes (Twitter account) and the Bath Rugby Plug (podcast) who give us their insight on how Bath have improved since the last time they played us - the  48-3 Bristol win back in January.

We pick our likely starting XV and look at how important this fixture is as we enter the final five rounds of the league season.

With confirmation that 3,000 fans will be allowed in Ashton Gate for the Bristol v Gloucester game we talk about the potential perils of a Monday night game for all of us fans desperate to enjoy live sport again... with a beer or two.

All this and more on this week's show.

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In this week's episode we review the 20-12 defeat at home against Exeter. Fair play to the Chiefs who got their tactics spot on to take a narrow win at Ashton Gate. We ask how much can we learn from this encounter and do the Bears have what it takes to beat Exeter in the playoffs. We talk team selection, tactics and player performances.

We discuss the two-week break before the next game away at Bath. How will Pat Lam use the break to prepare the Bears for this local derby. And speculate on how many of the injured players might be back for the game at the wRECk.

With news that the home game against Gloucester has been put back to Monday 17 May to potentially allow fans into the game at the Gate, we give our thoughts on what it will be like to see 'live' rugby again.

All this and more on this week's show.

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In this week's show we review the 34-17 win away at Newcastle Falcons. After a shaky first 20 minutes the Bears came roaring back scoring five tries and playing some of their best rugby for several weeks. It was another five-point haul to maintain our 12 point lead at the top of the table.

We look forward to Friday's top-of-the-table clash with Exeter Chiefs with the help of Robert Kitson, chief rugby correspondent for The Guardian. He talks about the strengths of both teams as well as giving his thoughts on broader rugby issues such as ringfencing and the future of the league. 

There's also the speculation the round 19 fixtures may be postponed by a few days to allow clubs to get fans into stadiums. We ask what this would mean for Bristol if we can get bums on seats for the Rifles Cup clash against Gloucester.

All this and more with Lee, Miles, Pete and Tony.

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In this week's show we take the opportunity of a game-free weekend to take a position-by-position review of the Bristol Bears squad and give our thoughts on where Pat needs to strengthen ahead of next season.

We preview the next game away at Newcastle with some help from our friend at the Folk on Falcons podcast. How many changes will we see from the Bordeaux game and will Pat have even more players to choose from?

There's also our thoughts on the 21/22 Season Card renewal prices and how much value for money the offer. We also see the return of the Gets My Goat feature, but what has got under Pete's skin this week?

All this and more on this week's episode with Tony, Lee, Miles and Pete.

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In this week's show we discuss the disappointing 36-17 defeat at the hands of Bordeaux and our exit from this season's Champions Cup. We came up against a good Bordeaux team for sure, but we ask - did we do ourselves justice in France? We also debate the performance of the referee and TMO. Some questionable decision making but was this the main reason for our downfall?

We take a look at the tactics and player performances from the game to figure out what went wrong for the Bears. With a free week now, we discuss the need to regroup and prepare for the next league game away at Newcastle in a fortnight's time. 

We also have a very special message from the club to share and discuss the rumour that Gloucester's Mark Atkinson could be a target for Pat Lam. All this and more on this week's show.

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It was another dramatic late finish for the Bears to score two tries in the final five minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. A cracking game of rugby and we discuss the performances, tactics and other talking points from the 35-33 win at Ashton gate. A win that sees us extend our lead at the top of the table to 12 points. yes that's TWELVE points!

We are also joined be Veronique from The French Rugby Connections Podcast for our preview of the Champions Cup game in Bordeaux. We get the French perspective as well as talking about Pat's options for this must-win game.

All this and more on this week's show.

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In this week's show we reflect on Bristol's late comeback to beat Northampton Saints 21-28 at the Gardens to pick up another five-point win. It didn't look like it was going to be our day but with two tries in the last six minutes Bristol keep top spot in the league with a healthy seven-point lead over Exeter. We discuss the game, the tactics and the individual performances that stood out for us.

Later in the show we talk to Will and Michael Wood from 'A Harlequins Podcast' for their views on next week's visitors to the Gate. Hear how Quins fortunes have changed this season and who to keep a look out for on Saturday.

All this and more in this week's episode with the gentle buzz of a police helicopter in the background. Little did we know that as we were recording on Sunday night, Bristol city centre was the scene of some violent rioting. 

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