In his weekly column on The Guardian website, Paul Rees argues that the newly-promoted Exeter Chiefs highlight the way forward for Bristol, whose demise, he believes, is a symptom of professional sport.
"Exeter have made a notable start to their first campaign in the Premiership, defeating Gloucester at home and leading for much of the game at Leicester, but for every success in sport there is a casualty.
"While the Chiefs entertain Newcastle on Saturday, in a game that will provide a different test because they will not be going into it as underdogs, the team they pipped for promotion last season in a two-legged play-off final, Bristol, will be travelling to Moseley looking for their first victory of the season after three defeats, two at home.
"Bristol's failure to get back into the Premiership at the first attempt last season cost them. No longer inflated by a parachute payment, they lost a number of players and the rest had to take a pay cut."
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