Dan Cole’s first try for Leicester had given Tigers the lead after 13 minutes. The prop burst down the side of a ruck to run in unopposed from 22m for a try which was converted by Sam Vesty.
But Bristol struck back to level four minutes later when full-back Luke Arscott broke through a crowd of players before exchanging passes with Robert Sidoli to score to the right of the posts.
The home side took the lead six minutes before the break. Scrum-half Shaun Perry claimed Mefin Davies’ throw at the back of a line-out 30m from the Tigers line before the ball was spun to the opposite flank for David Lemi to cross on the left. Barnes kicked both conversions to put Bristol 14-7 ahead.
England international centre Dan Hipkiss had returned to the starting line-up after missing the last seven matches through injury. Matt Smith switched to the wing with New Zealand international Scott Hamilton moved to full-back in the absence of Geordan Murphy, who was on Six Nations duty with Ireland. In the forwards, Mefin Davies took over at hooker, Cole was alongside him at tighthead and Marco Wentzel came into the back row at blindside flanker.
Ben Herring returned to the matchday 22 after an eight-week injury absence after being named on the bench. Tom Varndell was also among the replacements on his return to club duty after playing at the IRB World Sevens in Dubai last weekend.
Hooker Mark Regan’s inclusion in the Bristol side saw him become only the fourth player to reach 200 Guinness Premiership appearances. Prop Alex Clarke made his first start since Christmas.
