Madigan: That was a battle all the way

BRISTOL’S former Ireland fly-half Ian Madigan insists that the Bears can “take great confidence” from their narrow defeat by the Premiership leaders.

“It was a real battle right down to the last minute and we had opportunities to win the game. We’ve definitely raised our bottom line as a team” said the No.10.

“We had a clear game plan we believed in and unfortunately we fell just short but we know going forward if we keep working day to day as hard as we are then we will come out on top of teams.

“It was relentless from Exeter at times but our guys kept putting in huge efforts and ultimately that’s what it’s about.

“Exeter are table-toppers for a reason. They’re very good both in attack and defence and I thought we made their attack look average at times through our line speed and good defence.”

Madigan added: “To come so close to a win at Exeter and come away saying we missed out on opportunities and have 10, 15 or 20 per cent improvement in us is very exciting as a player to be part of a team heading in that direction.”