Discipline.
Thought our maul defence was mostly fine, the mauls we lost were often due to stupid discipline areas (swimming when there's no need to etc).
Skills are there, but it feels like Bristol have mostly managed to keep key players on the pitch more than us. Radradra is a force all by himself, Piatau is also immense. They've looked more vulnerable when more and more 2nd/3rd choices have been involved, disruption causes issues, and we've had a lot of it, all through the season.
8/9/10/15 are the spine of a team in many cases (2 and locks as well to a large degree). We've had a huge amount of upheaval in many of those positions. That understanding is what often leads to cute passes sticking or being knocked on, and injuries interfere with that.
Perhaps our s&c needs work, or perhaps we've been unlucky (many instances there's nothing to be done I feel).
I'm happy for us to play from anywhere. Again, look at Bristol, when they promoted, they got it wrong a lot, but kept at it. Now they are a little more picky (not much), but it often sticks, or it's clear it's no longer on, and they clear. If a team doesn't play like that in a live game, they'll never really improve at it.