Richard Hill's six-year reign at Bristol is over. The Premiership strugglers have asked the head coach to take a back seat for the rest of the season as a prelude to his leaving the club one year before the end of his contract.
Hill picked the side for tonight's match at Sale but did not travel with the team to Edgeley Park. His assistant, Paul Hull, has taken training this week and will be in charge for the rest of the campaign and Hill, who has been linked with a move to Montauban next season, is understood to be negotiating a severance package.
"We need to give ourselves the best chance and this might help us to turn things round," Hill said. He added: "We needed to try something different. Paul is a very experienced coach and this might freshen things up."
The players were told of the change before leaving for Sale. Bristol go into tonight's match nine points adrift at the foot of the table after losing 35-3 at home last week to their relegation rivals Newcastle, conceding a bonus point in the process.
They have only won one of their last 19 league matches and the club came close to going into administration before two local businessmen invested £2m to ensure Bristol had the means to see out the season and spare the Premiership the embarrassment of the club going to the wall.
A number of players have been released since then, including Peter Bracken, Andrew Blowers and Kevin Maggs as Bristol trim their wage bill. Hill's recruitment plans last summer were hampered by a lack of finance and an ageing team, coupled with the impact of the experimental law variations which denied the team the use of their favoured and profitable driving maul.
Hill guided Bristol into the Heineken Cup last season but a return to the first division is likely for the third time in a decade. They took a couple of years to get back into the Premiership the last time they were relegated and they would face another long climb back, even with the £3m parachute payment.
None of the players coming out of contract has signed a new deal and key figures like Shaun Perry, Dan Ward-Smith and David Lemi are attracting the attention of other sides.
At the other end of the table Gloucester's director of rugby, Dean Ryan, believes his Guinness Premiership leaders have delivered an impressive response to their European demise. The West Country club hold a four-point advantage over their closest rivals, London Irish, heading into appointment with Harlequins at The Stoop.
Victories against their play-off rivals Irish and Sale Sharks since last month's defeat by Biarritz confirmed their exit from the Heineken Cup at the pool stage means that Gloucester are well-placed for another major title challenge.
Ryan said: "What has pleased me most in the last fortnight has been our willingness to demand something from ourselves physically and mentally that has helped us turn a bit of a corner. We are building some momentum and have been really energised in the last few weeks. That has been fundamental to us recently, and we want to continue that tomorrow against a very good side.
"Harlequins have proved over a long period of time they are a very good team who have been able to adapt to different conditions and competitions."
Gloucester's desire to land a first Premiership title after finishing top three times in six seasons of play-offs is not lost on Quins' rugby director, Dean Richards. "You don't get to the top of the Premiership, at this point in the season, unless you are a side who consistently perform week in, week out," said Richards.
