Yet for much of the first half, Avon were forced on the defensive as they struggled to escape from their own territory against the fierce wind. At this stage, Wells enjoyed a surfeit of possession but were unable to convert this pressure into points in the face of some unrelenting Avon defence, epitomised by demon tackling from Dan Cousineau and Zak Harwood. Avon were also their own worst enemies as they conceded a string of penalties to allow their visitors to maintain their momentum.

But when Avon moved up field, they proved to be ruthless as scrum half Kiddie Sheikh sniped down the blindside to touch down his 6th try of the season. This was a sign of things to come as Avon started to develop their game with a mixture of deft offloads and some inspired bursts from Ian Burnell, Ben May and Cousineau, who deservedly picked up the Man-of-the-Match award for his all-round performance in attack and defence.

With the Avon pack starting to get on top with a solid scrum and steady line out, the black and ambers launched a sweeping attack to stretch the defence on the left before switching play back to the right where Iain Parris strolled over for his 10th try of the season.

Avon’s 10 nil lead at half time against the elements seemed ominous for the visitors and so it proved shortly after the restart as a powerful scrum led to possession with a strike against the head in the 22, leaving fly half Tom Boreham to take route one to touch down at the posts. This scrum pressure was all the more remarkable as prop Louis Belsten discovered afterwards that he played the whole second half with a fractured shoulder!

Jonny Batchelor added the extras, then followed up with two successful penalties as Wells started to wilt. Increasing Avon pressure saw centre Guy Palmer cut a great line only to be denied by a last ditch tackle from Wells impressive full back Corey Baker. Shortly afterwards, Wells mounted a promising attack inside Avon’s 22 but from a quick turnover, Batchelor then produced an astonishing clearance kick that travelled fully 80 metres down field to set up another attacking position. From the well-rehearsed line out catch and drive, Sam Book emerged from under the pile of bodies for Avon’s bonus point try.

With the clock in the red, Wells’ efforts were eventually rewarded as Miles Letchford drove over for a consolation try from the last play of the game.

The only downside was that Mike Butcher lost his record of never losing a ball this season as a misdirected Wells kick landed in the middle of the river and was last seen flowing serenely down the Avon towards the city centre.

Speaking afterwards, Coach Kai Harwood felt that this was potentially the best all round squad he has worked with over the past 10 years but said that the proof will be in next week's tricky away trip to Minehead.