'There was a bit of bitchiness in camp, it was a pretty bad place to be' - Callum Sheedy on Bristol before Lam
It’s been quite a profitable routine at Bristol. Haul Callum Sheedy, the starting out-half, off around the hour mark and then watch replacement Ian Madigan bank all the glory with a late intervention off the kicking tee.
Three times in the last eight weeks it has happened, the Irish play-maker delivering in the closing moments in the Gallagher Premiership. He clipped Saracens’ wings a fortnight ago, his penalty bagging a 23-21 win, and during March, his touchline conversion secured a 26-24 success at Northampton eight days after his penalty sealed the 28-24 derby triumph against Gloucester.
It’s the sort of headline grabbing contribution that could make Sheedy jealous, but not a jot. Anything that helps the team succeed is more than welcome. “Mads is one of my best mates at the club,” Sheedy told RugbyPass. “He’s brilliant and I will take that all day. If I can do okay for 60 minutes and then he comes on and wins the game, I’m more than happy with that. No worries about that.
“It would be easy to sort of pretend you are matey with your opposite number. At the end of the day you’re competing for the same jersey and you want to start. I want to be No10. Mads wants to be No10. Don’t get me wrong, there is big competition, but at the end of the day we are really good friends off the pitch and on the pitch that is what is making us both play so well this season.
“If Mads gets the chance, I have no doubt he will have an outstanding game and it will put the pressure on. If I get the chance to play 10, I want to do my best to put Mads under pressure. Having that competition in the squad – and it’s pretty much in every position from one to 15 – if you have that pressure on yourself to keep the shirt you’re only going to improve. If you don’t improve then the guy behind you is going to take your place. It’s special what we have got now as the squad.”
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It wasn’t always the case at a yo-yo club that endured some turbulent times before Pat Lam arrived with his vision to turn Bristol into a powerhouse capable of consistently competing in the Premiership. Now 23, Sheedy is thrilled with the transformation.
“I’ve been at the club five years,” he said, embarking on an interesting then and now comparison. “My first season, Andy Robinson was in charge and it was the year we lost to Worcester in the Championship play-off final. That was pretty dark times.
“Andy Robinson was a great man. I enjoyed working under him, but we probably just didn’t have that cohesion as a team, we were quite cliquey. It was little groups here and there, probably not as harmonious as we are now.
“The next season we managed to get promoted, happy days. Then the year after was the Premiership season where we won I think two games the whole year and it was pretty dark. Everyone was wondering who was going to play, no-one knew who was first and second choice. There was a bit of bitchiness in camp, it was a pretty bad place to be.
“Then Pat came in and stripped everything down. It was like, ‘This is my vision, you’re either on the bus or off the bus’. Pat had no problem if players wanted to be off the bus. He only wants players on the bus who are fully committed to the cause.
“It’s a cliched thing to say, but at the moment the camp we have is literally like going to work with your 40 best mates. You turn up for work and you genuinely enjoy it. Pat makes it a really enjoyable environment and you can tell by a few of our results, beating Saracens with six or seven injuries. It’s just a really good place to be and everyone is really exited by how we are going.”
The stark choice of being on or off the Lam bus was put to Sheedy not long after the Samoan breezed in the door at Ashton Gate. He’d just come off a season where he’d even been loaned out to Jersey. Now, nearly two years later, he hasn’t forgotten the jolting message delivered in that career-shaping conversation.
“We did a one-on-one when he first came in and I’d just come back from a lengthy injury with my hamstring and was probably nowhere near as good as I am now. I was pretty average. My skillset was average, I wasn’t working hard enough.
“He said to me you have a raw talent. If you want to put the work in, then you can become something, but if you want to become lazy – and I was pretty lazy at the time – then you’re not going to get much further.
“He really pushes extra skills so on a day off, he will put skills on optionally. He’s really keen on boys if they’re not 100 per cent confident in their pass, their kick, you put the hours in, you put the work in and you will reap the benefits.
“He was the one that taught me to go out and get the extra work in because when I was young I was lacking. I thought, ‘Oh, I’m decent enough’. But to go to next level you have really got to put the hours in. He taught me that.”
Sheedy’s lineage is an example of how the Bears are a cosmopolitan melting pot during the Lam era. He appeared for both Wales and Ireland at underage levels (his mum’s Welsh, his dad Irish), while he is currently English qualified through residency. “It’s an odd one, isn’t it?” he said about his international status, but he is very much settled in Bristol where the rugby club is increasingly becoming a respected part of the wider community.
Take a look at last week’s @BristolBears #TrainWithYourHeroes session at @Cheddar_Rugby. The U10s were coached by #GallagherPrem stars @ljmorahan, @Sheedy95 and @hazrandall9 ? pic.twitter.com/RfDMJ1jxeR
— Gallagher UK (@GallagherUK) April 26, 2019
“The last couple of years we have been getting out a lot more, getting a lot more community stuff done. Even players who probably wouldn’t play a hell of a lot of first-team games, people still recognise them and that has been brilliant.
“You go down to the shops and people are stopping you and talking about the games. It feels like we’re really cohesive with the fans and have got a really good bond. The social media team is really linked to the fans – the fans almost feel the are like part of the squad and that’s a real special feeling,” continued Sheedy, one of the Bears who delivered a Gallagher Insurance Train with your Heroes session to the Cheddar RFC under-10s.
He understands the importance of these relationships, reflecting on his own youthful encounter with some Cardiff Blues players. “When I was 10 or 11 and we had a few Blues players come down. They were only with us for 20 minutes and they didn’t do a hell of of a lot, but just seeing them there, it was ‘I want to be that guy’. It really gave you a little boost and made you just want to play the best you can and enjoy it even more.
“Pat’s vision is to inspire the community through rugby success and the first part of that is us as rugby players getting out and seeing the young kids. Their faces light up when they see us and there is no better feeling. Pat’s real keen on us getting out and about and it helps when we’re winning games.
“Two years ago you’d turn up to our Premiership game and it was like, ‘Are we going to get a 50-pointer (beating) today’ whereas now you turn up for the Saracens game and people are genuinely expecting you to beat the champions.
“The fact that we have given the fans that hope and that expectation, it puts a bit more pressure on us but we love it. It’s brilliant for the fans. They’re incredible. We’d 14,500 again the other week and we’re averaging over 13,000. It’s such a special place.”
?| Is there a better sight than one of the biggest legends in rugby leading our victory song? ?
UP THE BEARS! ? pic.twitter.com/xuhC3xRwu6
— Bristol Bears ? (@BristolBears) April 20, 2019
This weekend, though, they must succeed on the road if they are to keep alive ambitions of the top six finish that will secure Champions Cup qualification. That won’t be easy given their own inconsistencies away from Ashton Gate and Leicester’s dire need to quell the threat of relegation.
“We want to get 15 points from the last three games and if that is enough to get in the top six, fantastic. If it’s not we will have done all we can in the last three games. We have dropped a few points away from home in games we could have won, but that is all part of the learning process.
“Welford Road is a real tough place to go and win. Leicester have had a difficult season but they had a good win at Newcastle, so they’re on the up. It’s going to be a huge task but we have a young group mixed with experience and we’ll be buzzing going up there.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
1 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
19 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments