Join Pete and Lee as they review the Friday night loss at Sale and how Saints' win against Sarries has provided us with a play off lifeline.

At least things are simple now. Win against Quins and we are in the play offs.

Lose and we probably won't be...

Up the Bears!

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It's been a long time coming and it has divided opinion, but Saturday saw 51,000 spectators descend on Cardiff for the Big Day out at the World's premier rugby stadium. We review both the pre-match atmosphere, the game itself and what we can take forward to the tough away game at Sale. It is customary to mention Enya at this juncture but we need to put lazy puns aside and focus on the task ahead.

Bears got the 5 points that they needed to keep themselves on play-off life support but how good was the victory really given it was a Bath second string and they needed two late tries to make the score board look respectable?

We also manage to slot in a couple of soundbites that actually got recorded in the mayhem and indulge ourselves in more Hambley-esque acrostic-ery with a tidy limerick for desert.

All this and more with Pete, Miles and Lee at the Bristol Beer Factory Taproom...

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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 Gate

Dave and Tom interview:

9:10 - 12:04: Motivations for this season after last year's final defeat

12:04 - 13:41: How the Women fit into the HPC set-up alongside the Men

13:41 - 15:26: How Dave and Tom work together

15:26 - 17: 10: Coaching on match days

17:10 - 18:55: Shaftesbury Park vs Ashton Gate as home venues

18: 55 - 20: 28: How they plan and prep for games

20:28 - 23:00: Managing squad rotation and selection issues

23:00 - 26:50: New player recruitment pathways

26:50 - 29:39: Tracking and signing established players

29:39 - 34:23: How Tom signed Ilona Maher

34:23 - 37: 36: Dave's thoughts after the Loughborough Lightening defeat

37: 36 - 39:49: How they will prep for the semi final

39:49 - 42:14: Messages to the traveling fans

42: 14 - 45:41: Tom's failed attempt to sign Fury the Gladiator and a vote of thanks

Post interview:

45:41 - 55:15: Our thoughts on the chat

55:15 - 65: 53: Semi-final preview

65: 53 - 70:15: Score predictions

70:15 - the end: Dave's punditry trousers

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