Rugby Union: Guinness Premiership: Bristol 13 - 13 Saracens

Andy Farrell will tonight make his rugby union debut 18 months after switching codes when he appears for Saracens against Harlequins in an A League match at Imber Court, providing yesterday's dreary draw does not prompt him to book a further stint on the treatment table.

Conditions were perfect for running rugby, but both sides displayed handling skills which would have been unacceptable on the wettest of afternoons. With the scrums a mess from the first confrontation as the front rows, who boasted a collective age of 211, used all their experience to spoil to numbing effect, ennui, rather than excitement, was served up.

Most of the scores came at the beginning and end of the match. Dan Scarbrough's fifth-minute try, when he burst through a hole fashioned by Simon Raiwalui's long, flat pass followed a near-miss by the Bristol wing Craig Morgan, who would have scored had Josh Taumalolo's chip not bounced sideways. Neither try-line was threatened again until five minutes after the interval when Bristol kicked a penalty to touch and the prop Darren Crompton was shoved over the line from the resulting lineout.

Bristol led 8-7 at the beginning of 12 long minutes of stoppage time, but Saracens looked to have stolen an unmerited victory when Scarbrough dropped a goal from 45 yards after Jason Strange had missed a kick to touch. Glen Jackson repeated the feat from a closer position after a forward drive, but the indiscipline which had beset the visitors all afternoon gave Bristol the chance of a final driving line-out. From that the scrum-half Shaun Perry, one of precious few players to rise above the depressingly low norm, managed to squirm his way over in the corner.

Strange's conversion failed to allow for the wind and a draw was a fair result. Much has been made of the Premiership's success, with attendances rising and the 12 clubs turning over more than £100m between them, but supporters who are handing over money for little in return are entitled to ask what players and directors of rugby do on week days.

Both sides spent more than half-an-hour yesterday going through routines in their warm-ups, energy it would have been wiser to conserve. The match itself was littered with unforced errors, with cul-de-sacs preferred to wide avenues, a predictable feature given the tendency of tight-five forwards to stand out wide rather than contest breakdowns.

The tackling was resolute, while Bristol's lineout worked well for the most part. There was simply no vision, no cunning, no one with the capacity to bring off the unexpected or beset their opponents with doubt, although Perry, in front of the England skills coach Brian Ashton, did occasionally impress, only to be let down by his team-mates.

Farrell will do well to make sense of it all. Toe and back injuries prevented him from making an appearance last season and such is the publicity his debut has attracted, that the media may outnumber the spectators at Imber Court, leaving the Saracens director Alan Gaffney concerned that his highest-profile player will stimulate more interest than the club itself.

"We will finalise the A team in the morning and, all things being equal, Andy will play," said Gaffney. "We need to see how he adapts to the game. This must not turn into the Andy Farrell sideshow."

In that sense, Gaffney finds himself with a dilemma after the opening two weekends failed to produce a victory. They lost to Wasps after conceding a late penalty and there were 35 seconds remaining yesterday when Perry drew Bristol level. "We were dumb and inaccurate in the first half," said Gaffney. "We were more cute after the interval, but our discipline has let us down in both matches. We need to take a long hard look at ourselves. There was a lot of effort, but it was not the most attractive game I have ever witnessed."

Bristol banked eight points from their opening two matches last season and lie third in the table today with seven. "We came down to earth after a thumping win, as often happens, and neither side played well," said their head coach Richard Hill. "It was not a good advert for professional rugby in 2006." At least Farrell does not have much to live up to.

Bristol Taumalolo; Robinson, Higgitt, Cox, Morgan; Strange, Perry; Hilton (Clarke, 72), Regan, Crompton, Winters, Llewellyn, Salter (capt; Lewis, 72), El Abd, Ward-Smith.

Tries Crompton, Perry. Pen Strange.

Saracens Scarbrough; Haughton, Sorrell, Johnston, De Vedia (Penney, 63); Jackson, Dickens (Raulini, 77); Yates, Byrne (Cairns, 75), Visagie, Ryder (Chesney, 65), Raiwalui (capt), Gustard, Seymour, Vyvyan.

Try Scarbrough. Con Jackson. Drop-goals Scarbrough, Jackson.

Referee C White (Cheltenham). Attendance 9,100.