Bristol Bears’ early weeks of pre-season crucial says Pat Lam despite the absence of big name stars

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READ MORE: Why young star dubbed ‘one of the biggest talents in the country’ has left Bristol Bears for the Top 14 Speaking to Bristol Live, he said: “It is a crucial time because one of our goals is to bridge the gap between first choice and second choice, and third choice. “When you look at the first nine rounds of the Premiership without a break, and we saw last year eight different half backs week after week, after week.

I hope that was a rarity and it doesn’t happen again but you have to be prepared for it. “We have had a lot of academy guys in and new players, and we have got to bridge their gap to the senior players in terms of their knowledge of the Bears game and relationships as well. ”Bristol’s season was certainly derailed in part last year by an extensive injury list that highlighted the gamble Lam took with his recruitment, using the funds available to him within the salary cap to spend big on star players but then look for bargains as back-up behind them.

When the stars got injured, and so many of them did in 2021/22, the understudies collectively struggled to get the job done on a consistent basis.

Lam added: “You are going to need everybody throughout the season and this first block of pre-season has been great, especially for the academy boys because they have been challenged by the coaches and senior players. “I think we are seeing the fruits of the realignment of our academy. “There are 10 boys from our U18s side from last season [who were crowned national champions at the Academies Final day] training with us at the moment and the quality of players is completely different from when I first got here, and that is great. “They are very early in their development and their Bears careers but that.