Bath Rugby have a phenomenal squad and must know they are really good if they can bring six forwards off the bench in one go, as they did against Bristol Bears on Saturday 25th October.
Bath Rugby overcame Pat Lam’s Bristol Bears 40-15 in a Gallagher PREM derby at The Rec on Saturday 25th October | Photo © Richard Briggs
That was the view of the Bears’ director of rugby Pat Lam after his injury-ravaged side were beaten 40-15 in the Gallagher PREM Round 5 derby at The Rec.
In the 62nd minute, Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan brought on replacement forwards Kepueli Tuipulotu, Francois van Wyk, Will Stuart, Ewan Richards, Sam Underhill and Alfie Barbeary. And at his post-match press conference, Lam described that as a luxury that his club cannot equal.
Lam said: “Obviously, when you have that luxury, that’s when we know we’re good. You know when you’re good when your bench is really strong, like you’re bringing on what you’re bringing on.
“And we don’t have that luxury at the moment and we haven’t had it since Round 1.
“So that’s why I’m proud [despite Bristol’s defeat]. We could easily be sitting here feeling sorry about ourselves, struggling to win any games, but the boys are just scrapping for everything.
“And to get three wins out of the five, in the context of where we’re at…
“Even our training weeks… this is just not the norm what we’re doing, but we’re adapting, we’re adjusting, and that’s what we’re doing on the field as well.
“Well done to Bath.
“Probably my whole time here [at Bristol], coming here I’m always generally confident because we have our strongest team.
“[But this time] we were very under-strength and then when I saw the [Bath] team, 14 out of the 15 [are] internationals, the starting team, 19 out of the 23, they’ve got a phenomenal squad. They’re the champs here.
“I love that challenge, because then you have to rely on the team. You have to rely on attitude, heart, and defend.
“Unfortunately, we defended a lot because the penalty count was huge.
“We probably aren’t kicking, or not kicking at times, or kicking what wasn’t as accurate…
“We’ve got some backs who haven’t played much rugby at all together behind there.
“But that didn’t take away the defence of their back-line. [Matias] Moroni was class and BV [Bernhard Janse van Rensburg]. They just put on so much pressure so I’m really proud of what those boys did.”
When Lam was asked if the defeat felt like a 40-15 loss, he said: “No, not at all.
“I think it was 65 minutes, it was 19-15 [to Bath]. I think with three minutes to go it was 26-15.
“But at the end, when we got the penalty, you could easily kick the ball out and the game’s over but the boys wanted to keep going, fighting for it.
“There were some big swings in that game. We were 15-5 up. Our penalty count was 20-something-6 in the game, which is a big penalty count.
“It was a big moment where we carried the ball, and we’d been penalised three times for not rolling away.
“They made a tackle, and they jackled over the top of it. They rolled away and they got the penalty, put it down into the corner.
“We mauled and we held them but they mauled. Held them out, held them out, use it, use it. And then they broke out, they chipped over, scored, and the ball was thrown at our full-back’s head, and then he reacted, and so we had another penalty, and they put it out.
“So huge swing, and that whole sequence of events, when we consider everything, and they took it to 19-15, and we had two yellow cards at different stages.
“It was 65 minutes, 19-15, and the boys were hanging in there.
“They scored, and then we tried to get the bonus point, or try to win it first and then the bonus point.
“And at the end, two minutes, they scored, and then obviously the boys are trying to go and they intercept [and score again].
“So, loved the fight.
“This four weeks has been hugely challenging but one thing that’s really revealing is the character of the group.”
Regarding Bristol’s response to Bath pressure in the third quarter, Lam said: “We said ‘Nothing for free, let’s fight for every moment’ and the boys just put their bodies on the line.
“I think the tackle count… I heard someone [say] 230-100. Fitz Harding – 28 tackles, he’s a legend, got a few jackals in there as well.
“You really do see with your backs against the wall these last three, four weeks with the injuries we have, real character, and I’m enjoying that.
“So we’ve had five games, five rounds. We played three of them away, we won three games.
“George Kloska went to jackal today and he got his hamstring [injured], so there’s another one added to the list.
“We get a chance to regroup now [with the PREM taking a break until the last weekend in November].”
Looking ahead to the Bristol-Bath game at Ashton Gate Stadium on Friday 31st October in PREM Rugby Cup Round 3, Lam – who will coach the Barbarians in their match against the All Blacks XV the following afternoon – said: “I’ll hand it over now to [Bears’ head of academy] John Barnes and some of the younger coaches.
“There should be more players having a rest, two go away to internationals.
“And Fitz Harding, I’m going to take him to the Barbarians.
“He’s been at Durham Uni. Came in here, our academy. He’s only played at this level. I know he can play at the next level, so he’ll play for the Barbarians against the All Blacks XV.
“And then we’ll risk some of the other guys who’ve had some big, big spells.”
