Paul Hull has hailed the impact made by Bristol Rugby's youngsters over the past fortnight.

And the head coach has hinted that some of them could feature in forthcoming league matches against Birmingham & Solihull and Rotherham.

Bristol gave first-team debuts to teenagers Jack Gadd, George Watkins, Adam Bellamy, Ben Glynn, Jack Tovey, Mako Vunipola and Marko Mama during their opening two British & Irish Cup games.

They also gave further experience to 19-year-olds Darren Barry and Ollie Hayes, 20-year-old Josh Brown and Chris Ashwin, 22, in the games at Neath and Munster.

Bristol won 18-11 at Neath in their opening Pool B game, before going down 18-6 to a physical Munster A side at Nenagh on Friday.

And Hull said: "I'm really pleased with what we have got out of the last couple of weeks. For us, this competition is really worthwhile.

"You want players to put their hands up – and that has been the most pleasing aspect of these two weeks. You want the young guys to say, 'I might be young and inexperienced at this level, but this is what I can do'.

"I think all of the Academy players have done that – and you never know, we may see a couple of those players feature over the next couple of weeks.

"The fact is they have put their hands up and said, 'I'm here'. We've had a very positive fortnight on that front."

Bristol are scheduled to play on every weekend between now and March 7 – and will then head into Championship play-off action.

And while Hull would like the opportunity to give his whole squad a weekend off, he at least managed to rest senior men including Jason Spice, Adrian Jarvis, Luke Arscott, Dan Montagu, Roy Winters and James Phillips during the British & Irish Cup fortnight.

"I would like to have a week off somewhere in the schedule, but that isn't the case," said Hull.

"However, we had the opportunity to rest a few senior players, which is crucial, and also to play these Academy players and those guys coming back from injuries.

"A few players have had a physical and mental break and are feeling refreshed and ready for this next batch of league games – and that was the point.

"We have four games left this year and then one on New Year's Day, so it's a busy Christmas schedule. But we knew about the schedule, which is why it was nice for some people to get a break.

"The players who had been injured or who hadn't been too involved feel invigorated – and those who had played every game have had a rest."

And despite Friday's defeat in Ireland – in which Bristol were outscored by three tries to nil – Hull has been happy with the past fortnight.

"It has been pleasing for me that the Academy guys understand the game-plan and that they tried to play the brand of rugby the first team have been playing," he said.

"Unfortunately, we lost at the weekend – but we analysed the performance and the endeavour and attitude were good.

"We weren't clinical enough and we made a few individual errors, but that sometimes happens away from home in difficult conditions. Overall, I thought it was a successful couple of weeks."