Memorial Stadium defeat will stay with Welsh

London Welsh will store away the feeling of their Memorial Stadium defeat to Bristol, should the Exiles have to return there before season is out.
 
Bristol's 25-21 win was enough to guarantee they'll finish the regular Greene King IPA Championship season top of the pile, as well as earning them the right to choose to play home or away first in both the semi-final and the final, should they reach it.
 
Victory also extended Bristol's winning league run to 12 matches, while simultaneously ending the Exiles' seven game winning streak.
 
"Defeat hurts; when you're a team that wants to be successful and wants to be promoted it's got to hurt,” said London Welsh assistant coach Ollie Smith.
 
"We'll lock it away and we'll take a lot out of it. We'll reflect on the things that went well and the things that didn't go as well in the first 65.
 
"That's one thing we're very good at. We come back the following week and nine times out of ten we learn our lessons.
 
"When we looked after the ball and got through the phases we scored tries - unfortunately it took us 65 minutes to do that.
 
"We'll come out of this knowing that the Memorial Stadium is not a place to fear, if everything goes well in the coming weeks and we're back down here in the play-offs.”
 
Although the Exiles can still boast the best defensive record in the league, Bristol became only the second club in this calendar year to claim a try bonus point against the Exiles.
 
"Despite being under the cosh for the first 60 minutes we defended reasonably well and in the end it came down to two or three defensive which cost us,” added Smith.
 
"What killed us was the number of penalties and that just allowed Bristol to get on that front foot. We pride ourselves defensively on making teams have to get through phases to create something. Bristol went through three or four and we looked like we were slowing down their momentum, but then suddenly a penalty and we're defending a driving lineout.
 
"Whereas in the past teams have not broken us down, good teams will and Bristol are a good team. They eventually wore us down and got some soft tries in the end, but the character to come back was outstanding.”

But there were positives for Welsh to take away, not least their rally from 22-0 down with 15 minutes to go, thanks to tries from Joe Ajuwa (2) and Chris Cook.

"It was a frustrating game because it wasn't until the last 15 minutes that we showed our true colours," said Smith.

"We know this is a difficult place to come and play, but we don't give up. The character we showed in the last 15 minutes is something we continually work on - to play with pride for the jersey and your teammates - and that really shone through.

"In the end, while the scoreline didn't reflect the spread of play, to come back and not be so far off is a credit to the boys."

Welsh round off the regular season against Nottingham on Saturday at Old Deer Park (kick-off 3pm) knowing that there is still work to do if they are to secure second place in the table.

Four points separates the Exiles from third placed Leeds Carnegie, but with Cornish Pirates visiting Headingley on Friday evening, Welsh will know exactly what they need to do when they take to the pitch at Old Deer Park.