The Bears took the lead against the four-time European Cup winners in the match at Ashton Gate and held them 7-7 until 50 minutes, before New Zealand
replacement Jordie Barrett scored the first of four tries for the Irish side to run away with the win.
They face another steep challenge in their next Champions Cup game when they travel to France to play 2022 and 2023 winners La Rochelle on Saturday.
“It’s great learning for us as a group. They’re the sort of team we want to compete with, we competed really well
but we didn’t get the result and that’s the main thing,” Harding told BBC Radio Bristol.
