'He's another Antoine example, we found him playing in Ebbw Vale'
Pat Lam has described Toby Fricker – last weekend’s Bristol match-winner against Gloucester in the Gallagher Premiership – as another lower league gamble that has paid off handsomely for the Bears. Frenchman Frisch was plucked from the depth of Pro D2 at Rouen and his 2021/22 campaign in England has resulted in Munster taking him the midfielder to Ireland on a three-year deal.
Bristol similarly picked up Fricker from off the beaten track some years ago, finding him playing club rugby in Wales and deciding to take a punt on an unheralded talent who has since proven his worth to the Bears.
It was September 2019 when Bristol gave Fricker a Premiership Cup debut against Harlequins and he has since gone on to make a total of 25 appearances, scoring eight tries in the process – including the two that ambushed Gloucester down the finishing straight last weekend at Ashton Gate.
That Premiership performance from the recently fit-again 26-year-old – his first league outing in four months – was a sharp reminder that Bristol have plenty of talent in their squad outside of the star names such as Charles Piutau and Kyle Sinckler, far lesser-known talents who can be dependent on to provide a spark in a time of need.
“He’s another example like Antoine Frisch,” suggested Lam when asked by RugbyPass for his thoughts on how Fricker stepped out of the shadows last weekend to provide a much-needed win for a Bristol team that has generally failed to fire in this season’s Premiership.
“We found him playing club rugby in Ebbw Vale in Wales. He is English and he was at Bristol Uni and was travelling to Ebbw Vale and playing club rugby with his mates. There was a friend that I had that gave me a heads up about him. He told me about him, sent me some footage so I had a look, brought him in for a conversation and I loved talking to him.
“He is an intelligent guy. Bristol Uni, it’s not easy to get in there. I really enjoyed the chat but he had dreams. Dreams, hungry, just wanted a chance and he has worked away. It’s very similar to Antoine, maybe not as talented as a lot of other players but attitude, hunger, desire – that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have talent, he does – but that is what comes through, a real passion to be better.
“It’s a real credit to the rehab team with his (chest) injury. He was flying at that time (when he picked it up in December against Leicester)), he was starting every week and was going really well. Toby is like a forward playing in the backs. He is big, he is strong, he is aggressive, he is a tough kid and he loves running hard.
“The thing with Toby is he does all the little basics really well, simple things, catches the high balls, runs hard, makes tackles and he goes and goes. He has got some really good qualities. I was pleased. I was pleased for him and was pleased for the rehab team that they got him back and he just picked up where he left off.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments