Ep 195 - Bears huff and puff but it's Tigers who blow the house down

You’re listening to Bears Beyond The Gate episode 196. Yes 196.We’re three fans who love the club, the game and all things Bears.Each episode we talk about the game that’s gone, the game that’s coming up and anything else that takes our fancy as long as it is vaguely Bears related. We try to be as balanced as possible but ultimately we are trying to reflect the views and opinions of paying punters from all ages, backgrounds and demographics. We don’t take ourselves too seriously but we do try to say it as we see it!This week we mull over the third defeat in a row at Franklins Gardens and wonder whether ‘the best form of defence is attack’ strategy has now run its course and given that we have a play-off place hanging in the balance with only three games left, is there any way of tweaking the game plan to keep us in the top four?The next time that we see the Bears will be The Big Day Out in Cardiff and sadly we imagine that Bath players and fans will be licking their lips in anticipation. It has to be a yet another must-win for us, but how exactly are we going to do that?Finally, a new song, ‘Come on you Bristol Bears’, has been published by lifelong fan and charity fundraiser, Paul Hobbs. All download proceeds are being donated to the Foundation and you can find out more by clicking here.Let us know what you think!

Only a couple of hours after the end of the disappointing defeat against Tigers we knock out a pod.It's raw and a bit unstructured and involves a long discussion about how many more fortress metaphors we can realistically use before just giving up and accepting that we're never going to win lots of home games in a row.Supporting Bristol continues to be like riding a roller-coaster but today it felt like we were more at Peppa Pig World than Alton Towers.Are play off hopes in the balance or can we bounce back? To be honest, we just don't know but talk about it anyway.Plus shout outs to the Bristol Bears Lotto, Martin who we met in the concourse, and a new Simba Cam candidate...All this and more with Pete, Miles and guest pundit, Stoner!Let us know what you think!

Miles and Pete break down the humbling defeat at Gloucester by piecing together what they can remember from an excellent away day in the Shed. Bristol's defence left a little bit to be desired but fair play to Gloucester as they were on fire and it was an honour to witness once of best no-look offloads in the history of rugby union.Despite the heavy defeat, the Bears still remain in second place after this mini block of games but the pack are closing fast. Does the fact that we have shipped 15 tries in two games mean that our play off place may be in jeopardy or will Pat and the boys sort the defence out in time for the visit of Tigers on Easter Sunday?We muse on this as well as hearing from fans from both teams both before and after the game.Sit back, listen and enjoy our away day travelogue!Let us know what you think!

We run through the key moments of the 52-38 victory at a pulsating Ashton Gate as the Bears saw off the Chiefs with a disciplined second half display after losing Santi Grondona to a red after 30 minutes.The first half however...We also briefly look forward to the away fixture at Kingsholm with a game of 'who is most likely to...?' and finish with a short discussion about the merits or otherwise of the proposed plan to introduce dedicated away fan sections. Finally, Miles doffs his tweed cap to the career of Amber Reed who announced her retirement this week.All this and more as Pete, Miles and Lee share a cheeky pint and a bit of rugby banter at the Bristol Beer Factory Taproom.Let us know what you think!

We look forward to the return of the Premiership after the long Six Nations hiatus with a little help from Sports Reporter Elgan Alderman from The Times who was the ONLY journalist to tip Bristol for glory at the start of the season. We ask him why he went against the tide of peer opinion and whether he thinks we've still go it in us to go all the way.We also review the Bears Woman' semi final loss at Queensholm and ponder over the fact that every single stat apart the final score went in our favor and ask whether we let another chance of glory slip through our fingers.Finally we chat about the season ticket renewal announcement and briefly discuss whether the 'new' old news linking Pat to some sort of job with the Wales National team is hot air or something more solid...Running order:0:00 - 3:00: Intro and update on the state of Lewis' relationship.3:00 - 14:20: Review of the Womens' valiant defeat at Queensholm with stats!14:20 - 19:40 - Setting the scene for the Premiership restart with a car metaphor.19:40 - 24:25: Elgan Alderman from The Times.24:25 - 36: 50 - A meandering Chiefs preview including injury return speculation.36: 50 - end: Season ticket renewal package and Pat to Wales chat.Let us know what you think!

This week we focus on the Bears Women's upcoming semi-final play off with Gloucester-Hartpury on Sunday 2nd March at 3pm.Not only do we invite a proper dual season ticket holder onto the pod as a special guest but we also have an exclusive and in-depth interview with Dave Ward and Tom Luke. They give us a behind-the scenes deep dive into the season so far as well as their thoughts on how they will plan and prep for the play-off. It's a fairly lengthy and interesting chat after which we discuss a few of the issues that it throws up before previewing the game itself and offering our score predictions.We finish off by discussing Dave's excellent punditry performance on TNT Sports on Friday night having been warmed up nicely by our interview the day before and then finally sign off for the night.It is a bit of a long one again but to help you navigate your way through it here is the running order:Introduction:Start - 9:10: Pre-amble and a brief chat about the England A game at Ashton GateDave and Tom interview:9:10 - 12:04: Motivations for this season after last year's final defeat12:04 - 13:41: How the Women fit into the HPC set-up alongside the Men13:41 - 15:26: How Dave and Tom work together15:26 - 17: 10: Coaching on match days 17:10 - 18:55: Shaftesbury Park vs Ashton Gate as home venues18: 55 - 20: 28: How they plan and prep for games20:28 - 23:00: Managing squad rotation and selection issues23:00 - 26:50: New player recruitment pathways26:50 - 29:39: Tracking and signing established players29:39 - 34:23: How Tom signed Ilona Maher34:23 - 37: 36: Dave's thoughts after the Loughborough Lightening defeat37: 36 - 39:49: How they will prep for the semi final39:49 - 42:14: Messages to the traveling fans42: 14 - 45:41: Tom's failed attempt to sign Fury the Gladiator and a vote of thanksPost interview:45:41 - 55:15: Our thoughts on the chat55:15 - 65: 53: Semi-final preview65: 53 - 70:15: Score predictions70:15 - the end: Dave's punditry trousersLet us know what you think!

The boys are back at the Bristol Beer Factory for yor favourite Bristol rugby lock-in.Unashamedly long but to help you out here is the running order:0 - 6m45s: Intros, beer review, riders and the BBF Quiz night details6m45s - 22m0s: Bears Women's win at Quins and qualify for play-offs22m0s - 29m33s: PWR Commentator cliches29m33s - 30m40s: Instagram followers roll of honour30m40s - 36m30s: Bears Men beat Bath again but don't qualify for play-offs36m30 - 44m30s: Post-match Pat and even more Bears chat44m30s - 55m56s: Wider chat on Prem Cup and Queensland Reds team selections55m56s - 66m10s: Bears Fan Forum feedback66m10s - 71m55s: England A, George Kloska and Max Malins 71m55s - the end: Sponsoship woes and an EPIC final rant from MilesLet us know what you think!

As we head towards the Six Nations break we are sitting pretty in second place in the Prem table on 40 points. It might have been a bit of a topsy turvey win against Falcons that we appeared to try and win at least three times, but ultimately we scored 8 tries and pulled away in the final 'quarter'.We break down the game in our somewhat cheery and rambly way as well as going off on a few tangents with thoughts on whether we should sign Santi Carreras and whether it was appropriate for the England players to be seen on socials having a jolly on a golf course in Girona when their mates are getting smashed up in England.We also have a chat about the Womens' heartbreaking defeat at Trailfinders and wonder whether the 'Bears way' is still a work in progress for them. However, Sale's defeat of Exeter has left the door open for Bristol to sneak into the play-offs as long as they score a maximum 15 points from their last three games. They are back at Shaftesbury Park on Saturday so get youself down there and cheer them on...All this and more with Pete, Lee and Miles having a cheeky beer and a bit of rugby banter down at the legendary Bristol Beer Factory TaproomLet us know what you think!

You’re listening to Bears Beyond The Gate, a Bristol Bears podcast made by fans for fans. We three regulars at Ashton Gate who love the club, the game and all things Bears.This week we look back on two Saturday fixtures with the Women going first with a bonus point victory 43-29 win against Leicester Tigers women at Ashton Gate and the Men managing to snatch defeat from the Jaws of a Draw at the Stade Marcel Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand.It was another welcome 5 points for the Women in their quest for a play off semi final but given that they conceded 29 points to a team that were beaten 100 nil last weekend by Saracens, does their defence review definitely fall into the ‘learnings and work-ons’ category. Furthermore, it's our longest and most in-depth review of a Bears' Women game ever!As for the Men, it was the second year in a row that they got dumped out of two European cup competitions in one fell swoop albeit in much more courageous circumstances than that dark night in Galway last season. There is no doubt that we were handed an insanely tough group but should we be expecting more and did we get our game management right on the night? The debate rages.Finally, we look forward to the visit of Newcastle Falcons next Sunday with all our fingers and toes crossed that we didn’t pick up any more injuries in France. Is five points a non negotiable or will it be a trickier fixture than our respective league positions might suggest.Check out Dream XV Rugby by clicking hereLet us know what you think!

The boys come together at the Bristol Beer Factory after a couple of cheeky pints to review the narrow victory at the Gate aganst Benetton. It was an inconsistent win but with plenty to be postive about despite almost losing at the end. Before that though, Miles issues a public apology to the whole Italian nation and we run through a large list of people who we saw at the game.We then offer our analysis based on what we could actually remember as well as broadening the discussion to all manner of rugby-related subjects, including the Bears Womens' clinical victory at Sandy Park which saw Ilona Maher score a debut try right out of the Jonah Lomu playbook.Finally we have a suprise guest a superfan Simon Stone joins us as he happened to wander past the BBF on his way home.Vote for us in the Sorts Podcast Awards!https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-rugby-podcast/All this and more!Let us know what you think!