Bristol Bears prop Jake Woolmore has said that the Bristol squad has had an honest discussion about where their Premiership campaign has gone wrong.
Speaking to The Rugby Paper Podcast, Woolmore said: “We highlighted some points about missing out on some of the close games.
“If we'd have picked up points in that handful of games – we could be pushing much higher up the table.”
The Bears currently sit 10th and are unable to finish higher – a far cry from where they were last season.
Last season, Bristol finished in the Premiership play-offs. However, they were beaten in the semi-final by Harlequins – despite being 28-0 up in the game.
The current campaign has been a frustrating one for Bristol fans and players alike as they have been unable to build on the success of last season.
“We said, what is the difference? It's just those small things and small details.
“For me personally, you need the rub of the green. Last season, we had a lot of things go our way. This season we didn't. We're just paying that debt a little bit!
“When you look at the league as a whole, the teams that were in our current situation in the year before such as Gloucester and Leicester, are now at the other end of the table. It's just sport.
“Our trajectory has been upwards over the last couple of years and now we've now hit a plateau. It gives us a spring to rebound next season.”
Woolmore cited the pandemic as a reason behind their underwhelming campaign.
He said: “People forget we played a lot of rugby over the covid period. We didn't have an off-season and we're feeling the knock-on effect of that.”
“Now we're ready to reset and go again,” he said.
“We're gutted we have not done what we wanted to do. But we've always got next season.”
In February, Woolmore became the first Bristol Bear to play 100 times for the re-branded club.
Joining in 2018 from Championship outfit Jersey Reds, Woolmore has become a mainstay in the Bristol pack.
“It was a little bit weird (to get to 100 appearances),” he said.
“Out of the players in the room when I signed four years ago, you wouldn't have expected it to be me to tick that off first.
“Even if five years ago, someone had mentioned that – I'd have snapped their hand off!”
Despite making over 100 appearances for Bristol, a first professional try still eludes Woolmore.
“Unfortunately, I am still on the donut. I don't think I scored in Jersey – I think it has been six or seven years since I last scored a try. I do the dog-work for the rest of the lads to score, he said cheekily.”
Having signed at the same time as the re-brand, Woolmore feels that he has grown with the Bristol club.
“Being one of the first guys on board, one of those that was sniped from the Championship. We had a lot of guys come in and we grew with the club.
“A lot of us got the opportunity to prove ourselves as Premiership players. Being able to grow with the team and the club has been fantastic.”
With a sense of pride in the growth of the Bears, Woolmore has a balanced sense of perspective on their current campaign.
“Five years ago, we were in the Championship, we're now finishing tenth in the Premiership and that is a terrible season for us.
“So, we've put ourselves in the position that we're comparing finishing tenth in the Premiership as a pretty bad season for us but realistically, we're not in a bad spot.”
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