Walder reacts to Bristol loss
The Gallagher Premiership encounter saw the home side scoring a four-try bonus point with the final play of the evening, Walder admitting: “It’s disappointing.
“I spoke before the game about a bit of rust with having not played for so long, and we didn’t manage to dust it off early on.
“We got a few early interruptions through injury in losing Tom Penny and Mateo Carreras, and we just weren’t able to execute in the first half and take our opportunities. Bristol were clinical and played pretty well, so credit to them for that.
“For whatever reason we just weren’t as accurate as them. We knocked a couple on near the try-line, Gary Graham was held up over the line by a great bit of defence and key moments didn’t fall our way.
“We’ve got to away and look at how we can be better, and then go out and do it.”
Walder added: “Bristol had collision dominance over us which is something we’re disappointed by and will have to look at, because we should have been fresher with having not played for so long.
“There’s that balance between being battle-hardened and being fresh, and maybe as coaches we got that wrong. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but we’ve got to go away and attack the week because Saracens away next Saturday is as tough a challenge as they come.
“Three of this four-game block are long away trips but we’ve got to rise to that challenge and not use it as an excuse.
“You don’t get time to lick your wounds, so it’s straight into training next week and then back on the bus full of energy, ready to put in a performance to make our supporters proud.”
