Pat Lam's clearly a Cipriani fan judging by what he has said ahead of Bristol's trip to Gloucester

Pat Lam is ready for the challenge of navigating Bristol through a congested Gallagher Premiership fixture schedule, which includes trying to outfox Danny Cipriani and Gloucester next Friday. The title contenders face an immediate block of three games in nine days, beginning with the trip to their west country rivals as the restarted league season gathers pace.

And there will be no let-up, with Bristol having played an average of one match every four days by the time they face European Challenge Cup quarter-final opponents the Dragons on September 18.

“It’s like anything in life,” Bristol rugby director Lam said. “The challenge was put in place. The number one thing is that we want to play games, so that is good, and then it is about making a plan about how we are going to do that.

Former Worcester regular Alex Grove and recent cross-channel swimmer Alex Grove guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

Former Worcester regular Alex Grove and recent cross-channel swimmer Alex Grove guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

“All those who played on Saturday (against Saracens) went and did recovery on Monday. All those that didn’t play went out and did a pretty physical session and that is what it is going to be right through this time.

“As far as selection goes, the plan is to try and pick the strongest possible team every time. Obviously, take out injuries, take out niggles. When it (the schedule) came out, we knew it would be congested, but we want to play the games.

? ???? ???? ???@henrypurdy_ opened the scoring at @ashtongatestad in a sensational second-half display. ?

What are your predictions for the return fixture? ?#GLOvBRI

— Bristol Bears ? (@BristolBears) August 18, 2020

“Everyone is in the same boat, so it is around your planning. After each game, you are reassessing where everyone is at. You are checking injuries and niggles versus guys who are fresh and ready to go. Our depth is a lot better than it was, so there are options available. You assess after every game, and you manage the week.”

Gloucester, fresh from crushing Worcester 44-15 in their first game of the Premiership restart with Cipriani staetimg at No10, are now under the direction of new head coach George Skivington. And Lam is ready for a stern examination, while also underlining their mercurial fly-half Danny Cipriani’s threat.

Lam added: “Gloucester, even though they have had a change of coaching staff, the thing that is consistent is they are a momentum team that want to go forward and give Danny a chance to play and do his magic.

“He is a special player. If we don’t get it right, and he gets front-foot ball, then he can cause a lot of problems. That’s the class he has. It’s going to be up to us to make sure we can deal with that and try to impose our game.”

As happened in New Zealand when rugby returned in June, the referees have been busy this weekend in England… https://t.co/p2yebFBYaj

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 15, 2020