Pat Lam on Virimi Vakatawa: 'class is permanent'
Bristol boss Pat Lam hailed the returning Virimi Vakatawa’s contribution as his side outmuscled Newcastle 21-13.
Having suffered 11 defeats in a row, Falcons raised their game for the visit of the Bears and were well in the contest at 7-6 down in the second half.
But Vakatawa’s try helped the visitors pull away and Lam spoke effusively about the Fijian-born star, who has come out of retirement to feature in the Premiership.
The France international was forced to step away from the game last year after medics at French giants Racing 92 refused to let him play due to a heart anomaly.
“The saying is ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’, and he is a class player,” said Lam.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with his head, I think he’s had a year off the game and I don’t think many rugby players would come back off that and come straight back into it.
“But he’s shown signs every game [that] he’s getting better and better and having last week off, he got more done.
“The trainers said he’s more comfortable with the guys, with the way that we play, and he was really, really good tonight.”
“He’s a one-man destroyer!” 💥
Virimi Vakatawa with a HUGE run to extend @BristolBears‘ lead 🐻#GallagherPrem | #NEWvBRI pic.twitter.com/ZUbRHj5iKO
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) December 22, 2023
This was Bristol’s fourth win of a stop-start campaign thus far that has also seen them beaten five times.
“The number one thing we’ve done is grown as a group,” said Lam. “The resilience and the toughness the boys have got – at 7-6 that game could have gone either way and that’s exactly what we got two years ago.”
Newcastle’s long wait for a victory continues but director of rugby Alex Codling stressed the positives from a battling performance.
“We spoke all week about the breakdown opportunities and I thought the boys were fantastic and there are so many positives,” said Codling.
“I admire their courage, their tenacity, their relentlessness, their resilience. They never give up, even in the first half, to a man, they stood firm.
“The difficulty when you’re under pressure and not on a winning run is that the confidence is probably not quite as high as everyone else’s.
“I always want the boys to move the ball, [which] was a lot harder in the second half with the rain so I’m not going to criticise the players – we’ve just got to work harder on our basic skills because it does chop our momentum.
“It is tough to get back when you lose at this level [but] to a man, I thought the spirit was outstanding.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Bit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
35 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
1 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
33 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
33 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to comments