FANS SET FOR A THRILLING DAY OUT AT MAGNIFICENT PRINCIPALITY STADIUM

CRUNCH TIME IN CARDIFF

- John EVELY

TOM Tainton is on a mission to drag rugby, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the future, and Bristol Bears taking their marquee derby game away from Ashton Gate to the Principality Stadium on Saturday in 'The Big Day Out' is another step in that direction, the club's chief operating officer explains.

Bristol, of course, are not the first club to have held a big game at an international-standard stadium.

Harlequins have been doing it for years at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. Saracens have been taking matches to Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium and for a number of years Bath held The Clash at Twickenham as well.

However, Tainton feels the time was right for Bristol to step into that bigger arena, having tried to secure a game at the home of Welsh rugby for the last couple of years.

Sitting in his office at the Bears' plush, state-of-the-art training centre on the outskirts of Bristol, Tainton said: "Premiership Rugby have a really robust strategy around big games and showpiece moments and we felt at the Bears, with the journey that we've been on, and the sort of club we want to be, that it was it was our turn and the Principality presented a really unique opportunity.

"It's on our doorstep, it's an iconic stadium, anyone who's ever been to the Principality knows what a special place it is with the roof closed. So it's just a really exciting opportunity for us to celebrate everything that's great about Bristol Bears."