If the new season was supposed to bring chaos and dumbing-down, courtesy of the dreaded experimental law variations, this Guinness Premiership match provided little evidence of it amid the West Country needle on display at the Memorial Ground, in which Bath showed a marginal superiority in every department.

They pulled clear midway through the second half with an exhilarating try by Jonny Faamatuainu, the No8, leaving Richard Hill, the Bristol head coach, to contemplate a long winter whatever rules his modestly resourced squad are asked to play under.

“I don't think [the new laws] had much impact,” Hill said. “We were well beaten. This is the toughest Premiership since it started. We've had mostly the same players for a couple of years; everyone else is strengthening. Look at Sale - they've just added Dwayne Peel and Mathew Tait. They come here in a couple of weeks and I daren't think about it yet.”

When Andrew Blowers blasted over for a try in the second minute yesterday, the afternoon had promised more for Bristol. But Joe Maddock, the Bath wing, scythed through after Adrian Jarvis failed to find touch, before Matt Banahan took a pass from Butch James to send in Tom Cheeseman for Bath's second try.

It took a splendid individual score from David Lemi to haul Bristol level at the break. He chipped the ball over Nick Abendanon and displayed deft football skills to fool Cheeseman on the line.

Faamatuainu's effort, however, was decisive. If the laws had an effect, it was in the amount of space left in midfield by the reluctance of either team to leave the lineout undermanned now that numbers need no longer match. Forwards were forwards and backs were backs - until Faamatuainu popped up in the centre and showed a threequarter's pace to finish after skilled handling from Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu.

James, who topped up Bath's tally with four penalty goals, had a hand in everything five days after flying back from South Africa's Tri-Nations campaign. Steve Meehan, Bath's Australian head coach, was delighted by his fly half's skills. “He makes things look easy and has this marvellous way of talking to people on the field that lets them know what they're doing and where they're headed,” Meehan said. He's a World Cup-winning fly half and they're pretty rare.”

Scorers: Bristol: Tries: Blowers (2min), Lemi (40+2). Conversions: Jarvis 2. Penalty goals: Jarvis 2 (20, 53). Bath: Tries: Maddock (17), Cheeseman (33), Faamatuainu (56). Conversions: James 3. Penalty goals: James 4 (14, 42, 50, 54).

Scoring sequence (Bristol first): 7-0, 7-3, 7-10, 10-10, 10-17, 17-17 (half-time), 17-20, 17-23, 20-23, 20-26, 20-33.

Bristol: L Arscott; T Arscott, J Fatialofa (rep: G Barden, 41min), K Maggs (rep: E Barnes, 69), D Lemi; A Jarvis, H Thomas; M Irish, S Linklater, J Hobson (rep: P Bracken, 69), N Budgett (rep: M Sambucetti, 69), R Sidoli, A Blowers (rep: R Pennycook, 69), J El Abd, D Ward-Smith.

Bath: N Abendanon; J Maddock (rep: J Cuthbert, 76), T Cheeseman (rep: S Berne, 78), E Fuimaono-Sapolu, M Banahan; A James, M Claassens (rep: S Bemand, 78); D Barnes, L Mears (rep: P Dixon, 66), M Stevens (rep: D Bell, 66), J Harrison, P Short, S Hooper, J Scaysbrook (rep: J Ovens, 80+3), J Faamatuainu.

Referee: C White.

Attendance: 11,021.