- ‘We’ve had tough times before and come out of it’
- Bristol host Bath, who are also winless, in derby on Friday
All is very quiet on the western front in the early-season Premiership table. Bath, Gloucester, Exeter and Bristol, in descending order, fill the bottom four rungs and the first big derby of the autumn, involving the Bears and Bath, lacks the carefree cider-fuelled Friday night festive mood it might otherwise have had.
A raucous Ashton Gate crowd of about 25,000 will still ensure plenty of noise but both teams’ winless starts have already prompted local muttering. In Bath’s mercurial case that is nothing new but Bristol, having finished top of the regular season pile in May, have resembled a side yet to fully regroup after the unravelling of their title ambitions from 28-0 up against Harlequins in an extraordinary semi-final in June.