The history of the Bristol rugby side (now known as the Bristol Bears) dates right back to 1888, when the Carlton club merged with rival club Redland Park to create Bristol Rugby Club. The team soon became formidable in the league and, by the 1891-92 season, the Bristol rugby team won 20 out of a possible 24 games. Plus, when the first All Blacks side came to England in 1905, Bristol Rugby Club had the honour of facing them. However, they lost 41-0.
Read on to learn more about the Bristol Bears. On this page, you can view all of the upcoming Bristol Bears fixtures and see the latest news about the team.
Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam admitted his “huge disappointment” after his side missed the opportunity to reach their first Gallagher Premiership final by throwing away a 28-0 lead against Harlequins at Ashton Gate.
Quins are into the Premiership final for the first time since 2012.
The history of the Bristol rugby side (now known as the Bristol Bears) dates right back to 1888, when the Carlton club merged with rival club Redland Park to create Bristol Rugby Club. The team soon became formidable in the league and, by the 1891-92 season, the Bristol rugby team won 20 out of a possible 24 games. Plus, when the first All Blacks side came to England in 1905, Bristol Rugby Club had the honour of facing them. However, they lost 41-0.
Read on to learn more about the Bristol Bears. On this page, you can view all of the upcoming Bristol Bears fixtures and see the latest news about the team.
Gallagher Premiership 
Premiership Cup 
Heineken Cup 
Challenge Cup Gallagher Premiership 
Gallagher Premiership Premiership Cup Heineken Cup Challenge Cup | Round 22 | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | BP T | BP -7 | BP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-  Bristol | 22 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 561 | 362 | 199 | 13 | 3 | 16 | 84 |
-  Exeter Chiefs | 21 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 583 | 351 | 232 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 77 |
-  Harlequins | 20 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 661 | 502 | 159 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 72 |
-  Sale Sharks | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 501 | 347 | 154 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 69 |
-  Northampton Saints | 21 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 467 | 425 | 42 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 54 |
-  Wasps | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 548 | 647 | -99 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 51 |
-  Bath | 21 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 469 | 561 | -92 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 50 |
-  London Irish | 22 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 414 | 514 | -100 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 46 |
-  Leicester Tigers | 21 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 422 | 489 | -67 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 45 |
-  Newcastle Falcons | 22 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 385 | 514 | -129 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 45 |
-  Gloucester | 20 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 409 | 508 | -99 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 35 |
-  Worcester Warriors | 20 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 294 | 465 | -171 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
| Round 22 |
|---|
| - Bristol |
| - Exeter Chiefs |
| - Harlequins |
| - Sale Sharks |
| - Northampton Saints |
| - Wasps |
| - Bath |
| - London Irish |
| - Leicester Tigers |
| - Newcastle Falcons |
| - Gloucester |
| - Worcester Warriors |
By the 1950s, Bristol Rugby Club were setting a trend for rugby in England. Under the captaincy of John Blake, the side played an entertaining style of rugby that was considered years ahead of its time. This great form even continued into the 1970s and 1980s, when the team won the John Player Cup. During this period, the Bristol rugby team was also crowned as the unofficial English and Anglo-Welsh champions and played a game against the Barbarians to celebrate their centenary season.
However, since rugby union became professional in the 1990s, rugby union in Bristol has undergone a rocky period. Financial problems meant that the Bristol rugby side almost folded in the 1990s and, in 1998, they were relegated to Premiership Two (now the RFU Championship). Thankfully, they were promoted back to the Premiership at the first attempt.
However, following a couple of successful seasons and a brief name change to the Bristol Shoguns after a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi, off-field issues once again took hold at Bristol and the team was relegated again in 2003.
Peter McCabe Prop 
Jake Woolmore Prop 
Yann Thomas Prop 
Atunaisa Moli Prop 
Max Lahiff Prop 
Jake Kerr Hooker 
Will Capon Hooker 
Harry Thacker Hooker 
Bryan Byrne Hooker 
Jake Armstrong Prop 
Kyle Sinckler Prop 
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro Prop 
John Afoa Prop 
Dave Attwood Lock 
John Hawkins Lock 
Joe Joyce Lock 
Steven Luatua Flanker 6 
Christopher Vui Flanker 6 
Ed Holmes Flanker 6 
Ben Earl Flanker 6 
Mitch Eadie Flanker 6 
Jake Heenan Flanker 7 
Daniel Thomas Flanker 7 
James Dun Flanker 7 
Nathan Hughes Number 8 
Andrew Turner Fullback 
Aaron Thompson Fullback 
Tom Wilstead Fullback 
Fitz Harding 
Charlie Powell 
Tiff Eden 
Toby Fricker 
George Kloska 
Chris Cook Scrum half 
Andy Uren Scrum half 
Harry Randall Scrum half 
Ioan Lloyd Fly half 
Max Malins Fly half 
Callum Sheedy Fly half 
Henry Purdy Wing 
Semi Radradra Wing 
Sam Bedlow Centre 
Siale Piutau Centre 
Nick De Luca Centre 
Alapati Leiua Centre 
Niyi Adeolokun Wing 
Piers O'Connor Fullback 
Luke Morahan Fullback 
Charles Piutau Fullback After a brief hiatus, four more seasons in the Premiership followed as Bristol Rugby Football Club, including a third-placed finish in 2006-07. However, the side was relegated once more in 2008-09. This time, there would be no immediate return to the Premiership and the Bristol rugby team played in the RFU Championship until 2016. During this seven-year period, they actually came top of the table on five occasions, but they lost in the play-off final three times and in the semi-finals once.
After a fourth relegation in 2016-17, the Bristol rugby team is now an established Premiership side. Plus, upon their return to the Premiership in 2018, the team even officially rebranded as the Bristol Bears.
The rebrand seems to have changed the fortunes of the traditional yo-yo team. After all, the Bristol Bears have been in the Premiership ever since and, in the 2019-20 season, the team even came third and made it to the semi-final of the play-offs. In the same season, the Bristol Bears even won the European Rugby Challenge Cup for the first time.
