Bristol looking at bigger picture
Bristol have eyes on the Heineken Cup
Not content with being at the summit of the English Premiership Bristol and Director of Rugby Richard Hill have their sights firmly set on bigger achievements, namely the Heineken Cup next season.
If they continue their current form they will qualify as one of England's top clubs, but Hill and his players are eyeing a different rout, qualification from winning the European Challenge Cup. They are well set in their group, with three wins from three and fourteen points from a possible fifteen.
An away win in France last week over Bayonne proved they are capable of performing on the road, a key aspect of any team with ambition these days. Hill was impressed with the way his charges played last week, and will look for the same again when Bayonne make the trip to the West country.
“It was a very good experience to win in France and it was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend,” said Hill.
“We are taking the return leg on Friday night very seriously and the aim has to be for another five points.
With only three loses so far this season, two of those coming in the EDF Energy Cup, Bristol are full of confidence, and know a five point victory on Friday will almost certainly see them into the knockout stages. However Hill is keen to focus on the development of his squad through playing in Europe.
“Match by match in the European Challenge Cup our players are getting more and more used to the various demands of playing in Europe and obviously our aim is to be playing in the Heineken Cup," Hill said.
“There are many valuable aspects to playing in the tournament, experiencing different cultures and styles of play down to the different hotels and food and the long journeys involved.
“In our group we have opponents from France, Romania and Wales so we have got tremendous variety, which all helps in learning about playing in Europe.
“At Bayonne we had gale force winds and driving rain – the referee had to keep stopping the match because the advertising hoardings were being blown onto the pitch – and, as we were playing into the wind in the first half, we simply could not kick the ball.
“That meant keeping the ball in hand and our ball retention and phase play was excellent, resulting in us scoring three very good tries and that was effectively the job done by half-time before we had the gale on our backs. Now we are focusing on the return leg.”
The Challenge Cup could well prove to be an important learning ground for Bristol if they are to qualify for the Heineken Cup next season. If, and it looks like they will, they qualify there will be far bigger away days in France to be had than that of last week.
“It goes without saying that we want to do very well in the European Challenge Cup but it is not quite the same as playing in front of 44,112 people – as Sale did in Paris at the weekend – and in that sense I see the tournament as an extremely valuable stepping stone to the Heineken Cup.