So, after the Christmas comedown, a visit to Saracens was always going to be a tough assignment given their team and our track record in North London.

In the end a cheeky point was probably about right although we did look a few gift horses in the mouth and on another day we might have left with a few more.

The Bears Women were also in action today with nearly 10K fans at Ashton Gate keen to catch a glimpse of Ilona Maher and equally as importantly, a league victory.

They got the first but sadly not the second as Gloucester/Hartbury spoiled the party with a dominant second half performance. Miles was there and tells us about it.

Finally we preview next Sunday’s Champion Cup game against Benetton with the help of a special guest and Bristol legend Andy Uren who makes his first return to his hometown since moving to Treviso. He tells us about how his move came about, reminisces about his days with the Bears, and then looks forward to his return to Ashton Gate.

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In this week's episode Miles is off sick so we bring in a heavyweight replacement to provide laser sharp analysis of where it all went wrong.

Welcome Mr Dave Attwood for his second appearance on the pod!

Dave breaks down Friday's disappointing result from a recent player's perspective and we jump on his bandwagon to give our view from the stands.

Ultimately we decide that it's a blip that needs to be flushed down the toilet and never be mentioned again.

That said, we continue with our listener poetry which is slightly darker than in previous weeks and then look forward to the next tough assigment away at the Stone X where we will meet a wounded Saracens side who were also on the sharp end of a humping. We assume this will make them very, very angry but then our boys will want to make up for the festive flop, so who knows? At least it's an away game!

If you like what you hear then please leave a rating or a review on your chosen podcast platform or get in touch at bearsbeyondthegate@gmail.com or via the 'let us know what you think' link below.

Up the New Year Bears!

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We are back after a two week break and dive straight into a quick review of the tough European campaign. A great effort from the lads away at La Rochelle but ultimately we are sitting at the bottom of the table. We briefly discuss what this might mean for the ‘Andy Uren derby’ when Benetton come to town in January and then swiftly move on to more pressing matters…

You know…

The rugby massacre at Welford Road.

We do our best to give justice to the record-breaking events that unfolded on Saturday with a smorgasbord of hyperbole and cliches but also a strange lack of ‘phenomenals’ from Miles.

Unfortunately we left the cliche bell at home but feel free to make your own ‘dings’ as you work thought the episode!

We also read out some choice rugby poetry from our hard core listeners and then finish off with a review of the how the Bears Women have fared in the last couple of weeks now that the Ilona Maher carnival has parked up for Christmas.

The positive vibes running through all aspects of Bristol Bears are just incredible at the moment and we all need to keep surfing that wave.

Happy Christmas and hopefully see a lot of your at Gate on Friday!

Much love,

Pete, Miles and Lee.

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