BRISTOL director of rugby Andy Robinson believes it’s an advantage to host the first leg of a play-off double header.

The former England and Scotland head coach thought his side played with the “handbrake on” at London Welsh in the first leg of last season’s Greene King IPA Championship play-off final.

But the experience of a two-legged match is a new experience for Worcester Warriors chief Dean Ryan, Worcester Warriors travel to London Scottish for the first leg of their play-off semi-final today (1.45pm), with Bristol hosting Rotherham Titans in their first leg tie at Ashton Gate (1.30pm).

Many pundits are tipping Bristol to clinch promotion after beating Worcester twice in the regular season and finishing top of the table.

Ryan said: “Bristol won the league last year and didn’t go up. What’s important is we win the second play-off game by enough to get us into the Premiership.

“If you finish second and play the thirdplaced team, is it likely to be a harder game? Yes, but might that help you in the next game if you are successful?

“There are so many different conversations around this situation. We just want to get through to the play-off final and win it. I won’t know the answer to the question until the end of the play-offs.”

Last season, London Welsh stormed to a 27-8 home victory in the first leg of the final before securing a 21-20 win in the last-ever match at Bristol’s Memorial Ground.

It was the third time in five years, Bristol had finished top of the table but failed to achieve promotion Bristol chief Robinson said: “My main love is cricket - if you win the toss, you bat. You get runs on the board.

“Last year we played our first semi-final at home to Rotherham and were only five points clear at the end of it. That added the extra edge going up to Sheffield to play in the second leg.”

Robinson added: “In the first play-off final against London Welsh I felt we played with the handbrake on a little bit.

“Perhaps we thought we could take them back to the Memorial Ground and everything would be OK.”