Mallinder gave many of his first-team regulars a rest after two Guinness Premiership games in four days.

But the young guns stepped up their claim in front of an 11,000-plus Franklin's Gardens crowd and Mallinder said: "We were a bit flat in the first half and we talked at half-time about picking up the tempo.

"It was a chance to have a look at a few players and I was very pleased with the way we played and to get a bonus point."

Bristol head coach Richard Hill took plenty of positives from his side's performance, however.

He said: "Things are picking up. We aren't playing terribly, but we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

"The story of our season is that we tend to let the other team score within about 15 seconds of getting the ball.

"We tend to kick deep, they counter-attack and within 15 seconds, they are under our posts.

"That is killing us at the moment. We defended well with 13 men, then missed touch and they scored a try in he corner."