Bristol coach Mark Irish was buoyed by his side’s competitive performance.
He said: “We came with the mindset of winning and we asked for physicality and work-rate.
“We largely succeeded but in the first half, Gloucester managed the game better by pinning us back and capitalising with their lineout drives as they are prolific in that area.
“At half-time we stressed to continue with our game plan and we crept back into it by showing good patience. From 26-10 down at half-time we nearly managed a draw and it’s a great learning curve to play before a hostile crowd.
“It’s a decent gap from acad...