Bristol explain their signing of Kieran Marmion after Andy Uren exit
Pat Lam has described former Ireland international Kieran Marmion as the perfect fit to replace Andy Uren, the Bristol scrum-half who has accepted what the Bears coach described as a life-changing offer from Benetton. The recently-turned 27-year-old was the subject of criticism from some fans following the last-gasp January defeat at Saracens and 32 days on from that ordeal, he has secured early release from his existing contract to move to Italy for the 2023/24 URC season.
That unexpected exit has been quickly offset by Lam reuniting with Marmion, the title-winning scrum-half when the coach was in charge of the Connacht team that won the 2016 Pro 12 with a wonderful flourish. The half-back also won 28 Test caps with Ireland, with the most memorable of his eight caps as a starter coming in the November 2018 Dublin win over the All Blacks.
However, he fell down the pecking order after Andy Farrell succeeded Joe Schmidt and having last been capped in November 2020 versus Georgia, his impending switch to England will officially end his Test career as Ireland do not select overseas-based players.
Speaking at his Wednesday media briefing ahead of Friday’s Gallagher Premiership at home to Northampton, Lam reckoned that the now 31-year-old Marmion should be joining Bristol on his two-year deal with way more caps under his belt. “Ireland, as we see now and even back in Joe Schmidt’s day, they are blessed with some quality players and I know that because I worked five years with those guys and I knew the talent was coming through.
“Anyone who gets capped for Ireland, similar to the All Blacks the way Irish rugby is at the minute, it’s a real success story because of the competition for places. Do I believe he could have got more? Without a doubt. I thought he was good enough at that stage and he is still on top of his game there.
“It’s also good to see Caolin Blade, who was also in the academy with me, and he has come through (with Connacht and Ireland). For Kieran at this stage, at 31, (Jamison) Gibson-Park has come on, there is (Craig) Casey, they have got a lot of good nines. John Cooney, who I had as well, is still trucking on. There are so many good players but Kieran is obviously not in that picture at the moment for them.
“He was looking for a chance to change and he was a very, very big player when I was there (at Connacht). He is exactly the type of nine that I like – he is great running with ball, he is physically very strong and defensively very strong. He fits the mould perfectly for what we are looking for on and off the field, a good team man.”
With Marmion’s mother living “35 minutes down the road in Brecon”, the attraction for him joining Bristol was obvious once Lam gave the long-serving Uren his blessing to break his Bears contract and move to Italy. “The offer he got was significant and it’s life-changing for him. Treviso are looking for their number-one half-back, someone to lead and drive, which is why they put the offer in,” continued the coach.
“I said to Andy, you have been at Bristol your whole career, you are only 26 [now 27], you have over 150 games, you are competing with Harry Randall versus going to a club where it’s No1 (position). We talked through all of these things and ultimately he made the decision that it is something that he wanted to do and we felt he deserved this.
“He has only played here and is able to now go and experience his rugby in a different way. I honestly believe this is such a great experience for him and he believes it is too, and the plan is for him to come back, 29 years old, and continue and play 200-plus games for the Bears. It’s a great situation for him. We don’t make these decisions lightly to release him.”
Lam added the recent fallout Uren had to endure after the last-minute Bristol loss at Saracens was a factor. “I was horrified by the toll after the Saracens game when fans and people started having a real go at him personally. That was a tough week for him and I was really disappointed with that.
“I saw the toll it took on him and part of that whole reason he is going now is starting afresh, learning something different, experiencing something different in a different country, different language and really growing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Havili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
61 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to comments