{"id":996434,"date":"2026-05-31T13:52:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/996434\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T13:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:52:24","slug":"bristol-bears-star-on-returning-from-toughest-game-of-career-as-bath-victory-gives-slither-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/996434\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol Bears star on returning from &#8216;toughest game&#8217; of career as Bath victory gives slither of hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.co.uk\/event\/3500638B9B963901?did=50off2&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=TMC-ISI-PlanetRugbynopassword50%25\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img alignnone size-full wp-image-1504412\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barbarians-v-Wales-Banner.jpg\" alt=\"Barbarians v Wales 50% off ticket offer\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bristol Bears captain Fitz Harding has reflected on Friday night\u2019s 21-19 victory over local rivals Bath, saying just how \u201cproud\u201d he is of his teammates.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking to TNT Sports following the match, the 27-year-old said it has been a \u201creally tough couple of weeks\u201d after losing first to their play-off rivals Saracens at home and then shipping 94 points to Northampton Saints the week after.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that Saints game was the toughest game in my career, and I think the squad really took it hard,\u201d Harding explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we regrouped, and I\u2019m just so proud of how we came back and fought in that [victory over Bath], because at the end of the first half, we were down and out, but we stuck together. So, yeah, really happy with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Bristol v Bath derby is one of the fiercest rivalries in club rugby, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/bristol-v-bath-winners-and-losers-as-bristol-v-bath-winners-and-losers-as-underrated-captain-misses-out-of-player-of-the-match-award-while-superstar-wings-suffer-calamitous-incidents\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Harding<\/a> knows just what it means to his club.<\/p>\n<p>Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as\u00a0<a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=planetrugby.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said in the week that, you know, whether it\u2019s your last derby or first derby, it\u2019s one of the most special games of your career. And I just love how much the city cares about this fixture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt fills us with pride to be able to represent the city, and to see so many of them out here today, screaming so loud for us after what\u2019s been a tough few weeks for them, we\u2019re so privileged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/ardie-savea-double-helps-dave-rennies-side-set-records-en-route-to-japan-rugby-league-one-final-as-cheslin-kolbe-suffers-heartbreak\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ardie Savea double helps Dave Rennie\u2019s side set records en route to Japan Rugby League One final as Cheslin Kolbe suffers heartbreak<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bristol\u2019s play-off hopes<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to their victory over Bath, Bristol can still achieve a play-off spot, but will need Exeter to lose to Leicester on Sunday, then win with a bonus point next weekend against Sale Sharks.<\/p>\n<p>Also, next week Exeter and Saracens will need to draw and not pick up bonus points, or Exeter win without a bonus point, as the Bears have two more victories than the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/team\/exeter-chiefs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chiefs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/ben-okeeffe-wants-world-rugby-to-innovate-by-exploring-important-avenue-that-fans-will-love\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ben O\u2019Keeffe wants World Rugby to \u2018innovate\u2019 by exploring \u2018important avenue\u2019 that fans will \u2018love\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol Bears captain Fitz Harding has reflected on Friday night\u2019s 21-19 victory over local rivals Bath, saying just&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":996435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8818],"tags":[5012,381,748,393,177012,4884,225,12,6875,16,15],"class_list":["post-996434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bristol","tag-bath","tag-bristol","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-fitz-harding","tag-great-britain","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-premiership","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116669524503346634","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=996434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/996435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=996434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=996434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=996434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}