Bristol reaching Premier 15s play-offs 'incredible', says head coach Dave Ward

Courtney Keight scored for Bristol as they narrowly lost to Exeter on the final day of the Premier 15s season

Bristol head coach Dave Ward said it was an "incredible achievement" to reach the Premier 15s play-offs for the first time.

The Bears finished third in the table and face Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Sunday, 22 May in the semi-final.

The winners will play either Saracens or defending champions Harlequins in the final at Sixways on 3 June.

Since the Premier 15s was created in 2017-18 Bristol have never finished higher than sixth.

The two semi-finals will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.

"It's fantastic and it's all credit to the girls themselves. For me it's just bringing everyone together on the same page and seeing the hard work the girls have put in all season," Ward told BBC Sport.

"I did appreciate it. My wife [Bristol and England lock Abbie Ward] plays women's rugby, but to see it first-hand how hard all the girls work, not only on the field but off the field with their jobs around rugby - it's incredible."

Former Harlequins and Bath hooker Ward was appointed head coach in April 2021 and under his lead Bristol have won 11 matches in the Premier 15s this season. It is a significant increase on their four victories last year that left them eighth.

Their tally of 525 points scored also surpasses any previous campaign.

Aside from a handful of key signings, the Bristol squad is almost entirely the same as last season with Ward speaking of instilling a belief in the players and growing strength in depth.

"I saw the potential in this squad. There was flashes last season when I watched Bristol play," he said.

"They couldn't quite get it together as much as they would have liked. For me to come in and just help them see that, I think that belief system has been huge. We've reaped the rewards finishing in the top four.

"You can keep telling people that they're brilliant and they're excellent and they'll maybe believe you. But for me I'm showing them.

"I'm going back, I'm watching training. I always review training and what they're doing it and how they're achieving it and showing that progression from where we were a week ago or two months ago, or maybe six months ago to where we are now and where our game is."

Ward also gave "massive credit" to the medical staff and strength and conditioning coaches at Bristol for helping keep the players injury free - something that hampered the squad the previous year - and giving them bespoke training programmes.

"They've done a fantastic job of making sure that our players are looked after and I've still got a squad of 40 to choose from," Ward said.

"From the coaching perspective, if I've got more people training we can make quick progressions and you've seen that this season. I'm just completely proud of the girls and the effort they've put in and where they've got to."

Bristol narrowly lost to Exeter 26-29 on the final day of the regular season days ago in a "dress rehearsal" before the final-four tie, against a team also in the play-offs for the first time.

"We want to crack on now and keep pushing," Ward added.

"There's lots of teams in the league now that will be thinking that top four is there for the taking; the fact that Exeter and ourselves have done it this year to break the mould. It's great for the league but is also going to drive that competition."

Bristol won their six opening matches of the season to storm to the top of the table, which gave them significant momentum as the campaign progressed.

"I think a lot of people maybe didn't see it coming from us," Ward said.

"Bristol didn't even come to anyone's attention [for a top-four finish], so for us that was quite nice. We trained with that intensity in pre-season so we were ready for it.

"The thing for us now is we've lost that surprise element. There won't be that at the end of this season. Everyone is going to see us as a big game which is great, but also it means the challenge is going to be increasing for us."

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