GLOUCESTER rugby director David Humphreys was pleased with the way his side bounced back from a mediocre first half to finish with a try-bonus point 26-18 victory over Aviva Premiership basement outfit Bristol.

Bristol led a stuttering Gloucester 6-0 at half-time via penalties from full-back Jason Woodward and ended the match on a high as they missed a losing bonus point by one point when centre Jack Wallace and replacement Luke Arscott crossed for touchdowns, Arscott adding a conversion.

The damage was done during a 26-minute period after the break when Gloucester dominated and scored tries through centre Matt Scott, scrum-half and captain Willi Heinz, a penalty try and the fourth crucial touchdown by wing Henry Purdy. Full back James Hook added three conversions.

Humphreys said: "There is no doubt the first half was not as good as we would like and that was credit to the way Bristol played and what they brought to the game.

"But we knew we were better than that first-half performance and it was more about making sure what we did we did well rather than changing anything.

"We did the basics much better, created field position and took the opportunities that came our way."

Gloucester started the match down among the strugglers but their win has bounced them back up the table.

Humphreys added: "To a large part, the league table is an irrelevance at this time of the season. For us, it never frames how we approach the week.

"We are conscious that Bristol are a team who are striving hard to move up the table and they were desperate coming into the game.

"The mark of a very good team is that every week they are desperate to win and I thought today, despite a disappointing first half, we came out in the second half and showed that desperation for 26 minutes."