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Pat Lam talks up Harry Randall for England after Bristol derby win
By Liam Heagney
Bristol boss Pat Lam believes Harry Randall is the right man for England if Alex Mitchell is unavailable for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series. Steve Borthwick’s national team open their four-match programme with a November 2 clash with the All Blacks in London.
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As it stands, there are fears that first choice No9 Mitchell will be unavailable as he has yet to play this season for Northampton due to a neck injury that is still under investigation.
With no date yet set for Mitchell’s return to play, Borthwick named Randall, Bath’s Ben Spencer and Leicester’s Jack van Poortvliet in his squad of 36 for the three-day training camp which starts on Monday.
Before that Pennyhill Park assembly, Randall did his chances the world of good by playing a prominent part in Bristol’s deserved 36-26 Gallagher Premiership win over Bath at The Rec, a game where he eclipsed his opposite number Spencer.
This delighted Lam. “One on the feedbacks from Steve was he wanted the nines to be quicker,” explained the Bears director of rugby. “100 per cent, Ben Spencer is a really good player, but his teams tend to kick more. Harry’s strength is his speed, his sniping and his ability to put teams under pressure.
“I saw that when I first watched him playing for Hartpury and thought, ‘Who is this kid’? If they want a like-for-like for Mitchell, if he is out, then Harry’s that man. But I understand if you want to kick a bit more, I still believe Harry can do it but probably Ben is the best one in that sense.”
The foundation for Bristol’s derby win was laid by their bonus-earning, four-try first-half performance which was lit up by the debut-making Santiago Grondona. Signed 15 months ago, this was the first time that the Argentina back-rower was available for a Bears’ competitive match following serious injury and he scored two well-taken tries.
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Full-back Max Malins, centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg and hooker Gabriel Oghre also chipped in, with fly-half AJ MacGinty kicking four conversions and a penalty. It all left Lam feeling very chuffed.
“The most satisfying thing is we are predicted to finish down the bottom and Bath, with their squad and their season last year – Johann (van Graan) has done a brilliant job – are expected to win it. So for us to perform like that and play the way we did was pleasing. This game was always a big game for us, and particularly here.”
Behind 7-26 at the break, Bath hit back and closed to 21-29 before a yellow card to Sam Underhill handed Bristol the initiative to finish strongly. Van Graan said: “We conceded too many points in the first-half, then got ourselves back in the game and unfortunately went down to 14 players and left ourselves too much to do at the back end of the game.
“We backed up some errors today. We were not at our best… The Premiership is a phenomenal competition, and anybody can beat anybody. If you are 90 per cent on your game you will get beaten, like we did today.”
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He's here ?
It's been a long wait for his @BristolBears debut, but Santiago Grondona is now making up for lost time ?
Watch live on @rugbyontnt ?#GallagherPrem | #BATvBRI pic.twitter.com/rsgEHFeG0s
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) October 5, 2024
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