Ep23 - Bears fightback for famous win at Northampton and the Championship conoundrum

It's only Pete and Lee this week down at the Bristol Beer Factory Taproom supping a couple of cheeky beers, as Miles calls in sick at the last minute.

However, they still manage to fill the time, with help from listener posts, discussing the Bears Women victory against Loughborough Lightening in particular and how their season is hotting up more generally, as well as intertwining their thoughts with other subjects as wide ranging as Super League netball and the importance of not doing well in GCSE mock exams.

Realising that time is moving on, they also discuss the positive feedback received as a result of last week's Dave Attwood interview and agree that both 'Bristanbul' and more controversially, dry robes, are now discussion topics that have finally been put to bed although they do worry about the gentrification of East Street, Bedminster. They also 'talk about' news of a signing and a contract extension coming out of the club this week.

Finally they dip their toe into the more general rugby podcasting arena with a low key discussion of England vs Scotland loosely based around Gengey's travails before calling it a day as the timer approached the hour mark.

Enjoy!

In this week's BUMPER episode we hear from Dave Attwood about:

• His life since retirement...
• His time at the Bears and what it was like working under Pat...
• THAT semi final defeat and why it all went wrong...
• What he thinks about Bristol's season so far AND how we are not 'a million miles away from clicking' and finally...
• His answers to some incredibly searching short sharp questions, including one that is on every fan's lips i.e what might be considered appropriate attire at rugby matches...

We then chat about some of the really interesting points that he raises and then discuss our thoughts on the season so far with help from listener questions, finally signing off to most people's relief with some shout outs and reminders of upcoming events.

On that note here are the details of the Open Day at South Bristol Girls Rugby that is mentioned at the end of the episode:

• 6.30pm on Friday 23rd February
• At Bristol Barbarians  RFC in Whitchurch
• Food, Drink and Rugby available!

South Bristol Girls run U12, U14 and U16 teams (Yrs 7-11) with training evert Thursday between 6 and 8pm. Get in touch via southbristolgirlsrugby@gmail.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram

In the first ever Bears Beyond The Gate 'docu-pod' we hear from Kiera, Kaye and Sophie about the work of the Bears Together Supporters Advisory Committee (SAC)  an initiative  that was announced at the start of the season as a way of the club being able to gather more direct feedback from fans about off-field matters. They talk about who they, and other members of SAC are, how the first meeting went and their aims of for the future. They are there to represent US so if you have any comments or suggestions for them please complete the Google Form below by clicking the link. Enjoy!

Bears Together Feedback form

And if you want to see what they all look like then click below!

Bears Together webpage on the Offie

As the Premiership takes a mid season break for the Six Nations, we review the monumental banger at Ashton Gate as Bristol maintain their seven-game home town winning streak against Bath. Basically it was just a mental game of rugby. Multiple line breaks, gorgeous offloads and 14 tries AND virtually no box kicks or scrums. It was rugby played the way it should be!

As well as hearing from both sets of fans before and after the game thanks to our brand new audio recording device and Miles wearing a huge pair of headphones, we also read out a record-breaking 21 short, sharp summaries, the quality of which are university level, with a selection of game related limericks, acoustic poems and even haikus.

We also discuss a few other things such as our plan to get people in the Atyeo for every game but relatively quickly because we want to keep the pod under an hour ( we failed..).

Finally, many thanks to all listeners who voted for us in this year's Sports Podcast Awards. We have no idea whether we'll get on the podium but if we do it'll be a victory for hardworking, dedicated and often long suffering clubs fans all round the country.

Cheers!

In this week's episode we welcome work experience fella Reg to deputise for Lee who is still in witness protection after his new year Bristol Post article - or is he just taking the Christmas Tree down?

We discuss the poor result and performance against Connacht which essentially saw us dumped out of both European Cups in one go and debate what this means in terms of goals and targets for the rest of the season and beyond. Is change needed and if so, what should it look like?

That said there is of course a huge game on Saturday, as Ashton Gate prepares for an inundation of dry robes with the visit of Bath Rugby and their Tesla driving Cockapoo owners. Is this the most must-win game ever in the history of must-winability.? We talk to Bath fan Tom Dabinett and actually feel quite positive as he reminds us that they haven't won there for ages.

We also review the successful Bears Woman's victory over Quins at Shaftesbuty Park with help from listener Kate McCoy and finally make one last shameful appeal for support in the Sports Podcast Awards with voting due to close this Sunday 28th January. If you haven't done already click the link below to give Bristol Bears the only remaining chance of silverware this season.

Multiple email accounts could and should be used!

VOTE HERE!

Vote for us at the Sports Podcast Awards 2024 and help us bring home some silverware for the Bears! Click on the link below...

https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-rugby-podcast/

And in other news, the Bears lose to a decent Bulls outfit who out-muscle them in the scrum and generally look a bit better all round. Hear our thoughts and then those of Alan and William from Connacht's 'The Craggy Rugby Podcast' as they help us preview the final pool game from gorgeous Galway. The audio clip also includes Joe Joyce's post match interview after their loss to Lyon. How we miss those dulcet tones!

All this and more with Pete, Lee and Miles and a few pints of real ale recorded exclusively at the Bristol Beer Factory Taproom.

In this week's show we prepare, bake and scoff large amounts of humble pie after the surprise Bears' victory away at Sale Sharks. How can we be so bad and so good all in one week? We get the views of regular social media followers and also hear from yet another roving reporter who saw the game live, as well as throwing in our thoughts and opinions for good measure.

The last time a South African side game to the Gate a whole nation was disappointed but this time we welcome the Bulls in the next round of the Champions Cup. We are joined by fan A-P Cronje who not only gives us the lowdown about one of South Africa's premier club sides but also throws in a bit geography and history to boot. You can't say you don't learn stuff on this pod.

Finally, we have a quick chat about the work the Bears Women need to do to as they enter the second half of their season and finish off by mentioning that we have been nominated in the best rugby pod category for the 2024 Sports Podcast Awards. Seeing as we are up against national behemoths like The Rugby Pod and Maul or Nothing we could really do with your votes as well as those of extended families, distant relatives and anyone else you happen to know.

If you haven't done so already please click on the link below and help us push for amateur pod glory!

Vote here!

Thanks and Up the Bears!

Crocodile Dundee returns to chew the Christmas cud with a somewhat unstructured ramble thought the festive period culminating in a long discussion about the impacts of last Friday's hugely disappointing defeat against Exeter 2.0 in front of sell-out crowd. Despite leading 14-12 at the break the Bears were bageled in the second half at the hands of a young, hungry and well drilled outfit leaving many fans wondering were we go from here. You'll have to put in a big oral shift to find out what we think!

In other news we have been shortlisted in the 'Best Rugby Podcast' category in the 2024 Sports Podcast Awards. There will be more information in the next pod but if you can't wait until then, click the link below to find out more and cast your vote:

Vote for your favourite rugby fan podcast here and tell all your friends too

In this week's episode we relish the record breaking 51-26 victory over Gloucester and the retention of the Rifles Cup. After five losses on the bounce this was as a cathartic an experience as you are likely to get and the relief flowing around the Gate on the final whistle was palpable. We read and hear the thoughts of our listeners and then briefly discuss what this means for our chances against Lyon and Bordeaux as we head for a brief diversion to the group stage of the Champions Cup before diving back into the Premiership again either side of Christmas. It wasn't all bad for the good people of Gloucester though as their women's team (so good they named it twice) despatched the Bears' women with a clinical 12-0 victory at a very cold Shaftesbury Park on Friday night. The Bears had plenty of possession in the second half but just couldn't make it count against a resolute and extremely well drilled opponent. That said there was plenty of 'learnings' to be had as they continue on their campaign to make it into the top four at the end of the season. All this and more with Pete, Miles and Lee and a couple of cheeky craft ales at the Bristol Beer Factory Taproom.

We slip to a fifth defeat in a row at the Stone X but battle hard for a cheeky try bonus point which was the least we deserved. We may have scored a couple of worldies but we also shipped seven and if Owen Farrell had put his boots on the right way round it could have been a lot worse. We review the game with help from a few listeners and the Chair of the Supporters Club and then look forward to the Rifles Cup on Saturday which really, really, really is now a must, must, must win game. We also hear from Ed from the Cherry Jam pod who gives us his take on Gloucester’s similarly disappointing start to the seasons but also provides us some insight into their Women’s team who take on ours on Friday night. On that note we also review the Bears Women’s’ visit to Sandy Park this afternoon with help from yet another freelance roving fan reporter. We have tentacles everywhere! So strap in and listen to Lee, Miles and Pete as we climb on board the Bristol Bears rollercoaster yet again for a cheeky beer and a bit of rugby banter!

Running order:

0:00

Intro banter

4:00

Listener tweets and roving reporter feedback from the Stone X

13:25

Our in-depth analysis!

32:47

Chat with Ed Price from the Cherry Jam pod

45:54

Our thoughts on the line-up for the Rifles Cup

56:47

Intro to the Bears Womens’ Game vs Exeter

59:33

Second roving reporter feedback from Sandy Park

1:01:13

Our thoughts on the game

1:08:19

Final thoughts on Bears abroad!