Joyce wary of 'dangerous' Saints

Pat Lam’s side head into round three off the back of a bonus-point victory over Worcester Warriors, but Joyce says they’ll need to raise their game again this time out.

Applying pressure

“Saints are a dangerous side, if they get into their attacking game and into their flow, we know they can hurt us,” said Joyce.

“It’s about us trying to put pressure on them with team defence, and we’ve had a real focus, at the end of last season and the start of this season, on making sure we start well. So, we need to do that this weekend and deliver an 80-minute performance.

“We need to be on the same physical level as we have been in the past two weeks, but we know we’ll need to raise our level again this week.

Controlling the game

“We did some really good things against Worcester but the middle part of the game, we went a bit flat, so we need an 80-minute performance because we know that Saints can cause us some problems.

“When we’ve got the ball, we want to control it, be on the same page and apply the pressure.

“We always talk about Ashton Gate being a fortress, and for the majority of last season it was. This is the second of three home games in a row, and although there are no fans there, we’re determined to keep that run going.”