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What Bristol owner Lansdown is saying 11 weeks after title failure
Bristol owner Steve Lansdown has given his verdict on a Bears season that ended in heartbreak with Gallagher Premiership semi-final defeat to ultimate champions Harlequins eleven weeks ago at Ashton Gate. Pat Lam’s table-topping side were hotly fancied to go on and be crowned champions of England for the first time when the regulation season ended with Bristol finishing three points clear of Exeter at the top.
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That gave them a home semi-final against Harlequins, the fourth-place London club that finished 14 points behind the Bears. However, rather than Bristol moving forward to contest the Twickenham final versus the Chiefs, they were ambushed by Quins 43-36 in an incredible Premiership match that went to extra time.
Bristol had led 28-0 shortly before half-time but they lost their way in the second half and were finished off in extra time, denying club owner Lansdown his title-chasing afternoon in London the following weekend. The Bears will now open the new 2021/22 season when they play host to newly-promoted Saracens on September 17 and Lansdown will be hoping it is a first step forward towards rectifying the disappointment of last season.
“We are on target if you look at what we set out to achieve,” insisted Lansdown on Bears TV about his club where the 2017 appointment of Lam as the boss was pivotal in their long-term planning for success. “We were ahead of target and we have allowed ourselves to go back on target. That’s the disappointing side of it but if that is the biggest disappointment we are going to have maybe we shouldn’t be too upset about it.
“Our target was always to be in the final this year (2021/22) and to look to win it – and that’s where we want to be. We want to do well in the Champions Cup as well. We are on a journey and we are moving well along the path to success, having more success. We’re an ambitious club. We have got plenty of investment, we have got the right facilities, the right management, the right players and we are all in this together.”
England back-rower Ben Earl is one of 3 season-long loan players ready to play for Saracens for the first time after their year awayhttps://t.co/0kvHUDksKl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 2, 2021
With fans now allowed back in stadiums without restriction, Bristol’s popularity is evident in the sale of in excess of 10,000 season tickets with 15 days still to go before the start of the new campaign. “To be beyond the 10,000 mark before the season starts is absolutely fantastic. We are getting on a par with football now and we know we are going to be having a decent crowd every week and that is going to be topped up by members and by people buying tickets on the day, travelling support.
“It just creates a marvellous atmosphere at Ashton Gate for every game. It has always been our ambition to average over 20,000 a game and we are well on target to do that. The club is the heart of the community and it is certainly well established in that role now… sport brings people together and that is what we are doing. That is the legacy.”
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'We have the best training centre in the country and that is not bragging, that is just factual'@BristolBears CEO Mark Tainton on their new training centre, ring-fencing, Lam, Radradra & how a clean-out of players in 2017 was needed, writes @heagneyl https://t.co/fsHrkGupXc
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 12, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments