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Semi Radradra may be unavailable until 2022 but Pat Lam has no qualms about setting his Bristol Bears the daunting target of taking the club to the Gallagher Premiership final this season and wants them to embrace the pressure rather than be cowed by the challenge. The coach has the ability to make even the most difficult assignment appear nothing more than an exercise in positive thinking.
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Having overcome a stuttering start thanks to a derby win over Bath last Friday, he now takes his players to Harlequins this Friday night for a match that will bring back nightmares for everyone associated with the team. In last season’s play-off semi-final, Bristol threw away a 28-0 lead to end up 31-31 with Quins at full time. By the end of extra time, Bristol were having to deal with a 43-36 loss to the eventual champions.
The head coach is confident that loss has been exorcised and believes his prediction of Bristol making the play-off final this season can be achieved even without the injured Radradra. The Fijian centre is out for four months due to a knee injury and Bristol are scouring the world for a short-term replacement to bolster the midfield options.
Bristol are currently in twelfth place and Lam said: “People ask the question and I am telling you the bottom line is to reach the final. When I say these things everyone is signed up to it and while that doesn’t guarantee you will win anything, it does give you a better chance than doing nothing.
“The biggest challenge when I came here was showing them the last ten years and asking what they thought about the results. Everyone said it wasn’t good enough and we had to change. I said, ‘Great’. Everyone’s expectations have changed because of what we have done, but how we got here is about setting a goal and going through the process.
“I had clarity in the vision and set a plan out for five years"
– Pat Lam is resolutely sticking to the bottom line originally set out in 2017 in his grand plan for Bristol #PremRugby #Bears #BRIvSAR
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 14, 2021
“I set out a five-year plan (for the club) and have hit every target and that is the way I am. In my life, I haven’t hit every target but I have gone pretty close and that is the way I am. I am not one to wander around thinking, ‘What shall I do today?’ There has to be a purpose for living. You set all these goals but the world is not perfect and it is the journey of trying to achieve it rather than waiting to see if anything happens.
“The boys know why we are doing this. When you are talking about effort and do we really want to be in the final then it is clarity of purpose. Once you sign up for it then everyone gets behind it and imagine being in a place where some want to be in the final, some want to win it and some just are happy to win some games. That is not a great place to be. When I first arrived at Bristol I asked what the vision was for the club and got seven different answers.”
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With Bristol owner Steve Lansdown backing Lam’s vision, significant strides have been made and as the final year of the five-year plan is now in motion tangible reward for all of the investment is needed. “We set our target and made this growth and the pressure is not on us. Our players signed up to it and remember 70 per cent of this squad have been with me for four seasons. I said the bus is going this way and you don’t have to get on the bus… that isn’t a problem, but it is going in this direction.”
Finding a replacement for the multi-talented Radradra is going to test Lam and the Bristol boss is hoping his Fijian superstar is able to make it back ahead of the four months recovery the injury is expected to take. “We are looking to strengthen in that area and we will be looking for a replacement for Semi for the time he is out,” added Lam.
“We lost him for good periods of last season as well and other guys stepped up and did that role. Semi always comes back earlier than expected and that is because of the way he is built and his professionalism. Hopefully, he will be back earlier. I made eight changes for Bath and it is about world-class effort, not world-class players, and what we built this team on.”
The post-mortem has been delivered from on high after Bristol's staggering surrender of a 28-point semi-final lead https://t.co/vQonpfa46h
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 2, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
37 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.
10 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.
37 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.
3 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
37 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 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
37 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 commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
37 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
37 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
37 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments