We’re doing things even better than the Natal Sharks says Bristol head coach Liam Middleton

Bristol head coach Liam Middleton hopes a recent fact-finding mission to South Africa will make the difference as his side targets Championship glory.
Middleton spent a week with the Durban-based Sharks last month observing how the Super 15 outfit went about their business.
And he returned to England suitably encouraged that not only are Bristol heading in the right direction, but they are actually doing some things better.
Middleton said: “Part of my philosophy is not to get stuck into one way of doing things, so I went to see what kind of things the Sharks do.
“The trip was about gaining perspective and what I took from it was that the systems we have in place at Bristol are well ahead of our league position. Our performance and coaching structures are right up there with what the Sharks are doing, and in some areas I actually felt we did things a little better.
“You pick up new ideas and techniques and hopefully we can incorporate some of that into the things we are already doing well at Bristol.”
But for a crazy 20 minutes during the second-half of their Championship semi-final at Cornish Pirates, Bristol might now be a Premiership side.
Middleton is convinced Bristol could have beaten London Welsh in the final, but has not allowed the disappointment to discourage him.
He explained: “In our review of last season, we concluded that we’d made a significant shift forward in our performance and coaching systems. It’s not so much about things we didn’t do well, it’s about doing things a little bit better.
“Overall, last season was very positive. We finished top of the league and had the best defensive record and scored most tries in the play-off groups.
“If you’re looking at where we were coming from, with new coaches and players, you saw a pretty seismic shift in the club’s overall direction.
“Unfortunately, 20 bad minutes unravelled our season. But what we haven’t allowed it to do is unravel all the good work we did prior to that.”
Aiding Bristol’s cause this season will be former Gloucester boss Dean Ryan, who has joined the club’s board in an advisory capacity.
“That’s been a positive step for us and Dean’s appointment was something I was a big part of,” says Middleton.
NEIL HARVEY