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Ellis Genge joins LRZ on Bristol's eye-watering double-digit injury list
By Neil Fissler
Wales superstar Louis Rees-Zammit has been ruled out of a reunion with his former club Gloucester when Bristol Bears visit their West Country rivals at Kingsholm on Friday night.
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Rees-Zammit, 24, who scored 42 tries in 77 appearances for the Cherry & Whites before leaving the club in January 2024 to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in American Football.
He scored a try for the Bears when they won a Premiership Rugby Cup clash at Gloucester last month, but is still struggling with a foot injury he suffered against Saracens two weeks ago.
Pat Lam will be without 13 backs for the 40-mile trip down the M5, with England and British and Lions loosehead Ellis Genge also ruled out of the game after suffering a head knock in the win over Exeter Chiefs last weekend.
“He isn’t in consideration yet. He is one of the 13. We have only got two more games in sense of the PREM, which is our priority at the moment, and then we have the November window.
“We are hoping in the next couple of weeks, maybe Bath, but certainly not this week. We have two options. Sit here and cry, or get on with it. And only the players in the room know what we went through to get that win last week.
“Ellis took a knock to the shin, so I took him off. Then the independent doctor called out that he needed to undergo an HIA, which surprised him because he doesn’t wear a mouthguard.
“Basically, he failed the process, so he is pretty frustrated, which means that he is ruled out for this week, “ said Bears boss Lam.
The Bears will also be without fly-half Tom Jordan, who has been banned for three weeks following his sending off against the Chiefs, but they have re-signed US Eagles winger Toby Fricker to ease their problems outwide.
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Fricker, who has scored 14 tries in 36 appearances for the Bears, answered an emergency SOS call from Lam while he was away on his stag do last week.
“I found Toby on his stag do. So he has rocked into training. He has obviously been preparing with USA Rugby, and he has managed to join us. A little bit dusty, but he passed his medical, so we have managed to get some numbers.
“Obviously, we have got to take it easy with the backs. We cannot afford to lose any more. That’s the dilemma that we face until a few more of them start to come back.
“Some will be back in December, and some in January, and some later, so we have got a couple of months to navigate,” added Lam.
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