Everyone played their part in the semi final win

Man of the Match
By Duncan Wood
June 4 2002

Felipe Contepomi was voted Man of the Match but Saturday's win was all about team spirit and a refusal to accept defeat. Everyone played their part in the win even the guys coming off the bench.

Felipe Contepomi took the plaudits after Saturday and quite rightly so. He has rapidly become crucial to Bristol's cause and his performances in the playoff wins over Leicester and Northampton underline how he is the man for the big occasion.

However, even Felipe acknowledged the team performance in his post match interview on Sky on Saturday. The platform upon which he performed was created by the efforts of others.

The pack put in a whole hearted effort. It was an unfamiliar looking front row. Most Bristol observers would select Julian White and Paul Johnstone as their first choice props. But Darren Crompton and Emiliano Bergamaschi were superb. I've never seen DC put in as many hits as he did on Saturday.

The scrum was pretty solid against a strong Saints pack. The only wobbles came when we were down to 7 men due to the sinbinning. The lineout was perfection. I don't think that we lost one ball whereas Alex Brown created havoc and Steve Thopmson's throwing was off the mark at times.

The back row put in a titanic effort. Short, Lipman and Sturnham all tackled themselves into the ground. All were prominent with ball in hand, especially Sturnham, and the appearance of Ross Beattie was an added bonus.

Once again, the half backs ran the show for us. Pichot and Contepomi seem to love the big occasion. They were marvellous in the mud at Leicester. They were supreme on the sand on Saturday. I'm sure that they'll be great on grass!

The backs once again showed how dangerous they can be. David Rees and Phil Christophers both made seering breaks to stretch the Northampton defence. But they also fought like tigers in defence. Reesy and Lee Best were both left with awkward situations to deal with running back to pick up Northampton kicks. Nobody shirked the task.

Also, a special work for Matt Carrington. It's not been an easy few months for the likeable Kiwi. He only found out he was playing with about 20 minutes to spare and then had to play out of position. He let no-one down. He made a lot of ground to make one vital clearance in the first half, his defence was solid and he so nearly scored towards the end.

Overall, however, it was a team effort and that includes the guys on the bench. We had a stronger 22 than Northampton and that was vital.

There may be several stars in this team but the great thing is that no-one sees themselves as bigger than the team. There's a great spirit in the camp and that shouldn't be underestimated.