A strong, cold wind was blowing the length of a pitch which had started to plough up even as the teams practiced before the game.  Bristol were playing into the elements in the first half and their obvious tactics were to defend strongly and contain the hosts before taking advantage of the weather conditions in the second half.  Stade Francais certainly put Bristol under early pressure and Bristol gave away a penalty that Skrela kicked for a 3 - 0 lead.  Bristol responded by keeping the ball tight but gave away another penalty, only to escape when Skrela was wide of the posts.

Aggressive defence from Bristol saw the resurgent Roy Winters halt Martin in his tracks and then take possession.  Bristol were awarded a penalty which Brian O'Riordan, who had perhaps his best performance for Bristol, took quickly to make some distance before Stade Francais managed to scramble across.  Bristol were looking strong at this point and forced another turnover before a scrum broke up with the forwards scuffling and punching.  A player from both sides was lectured and punished by the referee but the penalty was awarded to Bristol and Jason Strange was unerring to level the scores.  Stade Francais took play back to Bristol but the defence stood firm to deny any breakthrough before Skrela lost patience and launched a kick to the opposite corner that was far too long for his team.

The home side continued to seek a way to score and Martin forced his way through the tackles, was momentarily brought to ground before retuning to his feet and sprinting towards the line.  His effort was brought to a halt by a desperate tackle from the excellent Luke Arscott.  Several scrums ensued 5 metres out but Bristol just managed to hold out.  Stade Francais received some reward with a penalty right in front of the posts and they took a 6 - 3 lead.  Bristol though had some opportunities and the pack won a scrum against the head which allowed Bristol to win a penalty.  It looked to be a kickable chance but Bristol elected to take the bold option and kicked for touch in the corner.  Now Stade Francais defended desperately and it was Bristol who failed to find a way through.  The chance was lost when Larscott was forced into touch.  To Bristol's credit they still tried to take play to the French side and kept possession well.  Neil Brew, who continued on from his fine performance against Saracens, made a rare error when he kicked the ball out on the full.  Stade Francais took advantage to put Bristol under pressure.  Bristol were wrongly penalised by the referee and Skrela was on target to take his side to a 9 - 6 lead as the end of the half approached.  Bristol took play back to the hosts and, just before half time a drive broke up with an ugly fracas and accusations of eye-gouging.

Just before the second half commenced I was wondering if Bristol should turn the psychological screw on Skrela if he made a mess of a restart by making him kick again.  Sure enough his kick failed to make 10 metres but Bristol, probably correctly, chose the more conventional option of taking the scrum.  This allowed Strange to put in a good kick over the defence which troubled Corleto before Dominici came to his aid.  Stade Francais then kept the ball in hand skilfully and swept into the Bristol half and were only just kept out at the cost of an easy penalty chance.  Skrela's kick took an astonishing turn in the air and was well wide.  Bristol made good their escape and came right back at the French side.  A long kick put the defender under great pressure and he held onto the ball on the ground as four Bristol players struggled to get hold of the ball.  It was an obvious penalty.  Strange, with the wind strongly in his favour, made no error and the gap narrowed to 9 - 6.

Stade Francais struck back, once again keeping the ball in hand before a powerful drive from the forwards forced Bristol back rapidly.  The maul was impossible to pull down or halt legally, but, as the defenders retreated, the maul fractured apart and the ball was knocked on.  The host side were looking dangerous as they stretched the increasingly desperate defence and it seemed inevitable that they would score soon.  A typically strong break from the young Mathieu Bastareud, who was playing in the third division last season, set up excellent field position and French numbers overwhelmed the Bristol defence to allow Corleto to score from Parisse's pass.  Skrela was again off-target but Stade Francais were edging away at 14 - 8.  Bristol recovered from this blow with a fine long kick from Strange putting Stade Francais under pressure inside their 22 and forcing them into conceding a turnover.  O'Riordan made a neat break from the ruck and looked for a brief instant to have a gap.  Sensibly he elected to pass outside and Larscott fed Tarscott to touch down in the far right corner.  Strange was narrowly wide with his conversion attempt but Bristol were right back on their host's heels at 14 - 11.  Sean Hohneck, who is starting to look confident in the lineout and increasingly prominent in the loose, then timed his jump superbly to take a Stade Francais lineout as if it were Bristol's.  Stade Francais however were far from overwhelmed and contained the revitalised Bristol and then countered with a fine move following a poor kick from Strange.  Direct running moved play back into the Bristol half and the defence was disorganised by shifting play from side to side before Dominici's gentle run held the last defender and his inside pass allowed the onrushing wing Arias to score and force Bristol out of bonus point range at 19 - 11.  Stade Francais then took a leaf from Bristol's playbook and held onto the ball for much of the rest of the match.  They then conceded a foolish penalty at the last instant with a dim-witted shoulder charge on a retreating Bristol player right in front of the referee.  It was a long way out for replacement David Hill and with difficult footing, but he struck it well and the ball looked to be heading over before drifting agonisingly wide to deny Bristol a deserved bonus point.

A good performance from Bristol, but they came up just short against a side with impressive playing resources and a tremendous home record.  Next for Bristol is Cardiff who now top the group.  A win for Bristol could still see them qualify forthe quarter finals although it seems unlikely that Quins are strong enough to give Bristol the help they need. 

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