Pat Lam insists he’s not a superstitious man but the Bristol Bears director of rugby would be forgiven for thinking he’s the victim of some kind of karma revolving around the amount of hits he put on scrum-halves during his playing days.
Injuries are part and parcel of the game, of course, but yet again the Bears are warming up for a Premiership fixture in a week where they have lost a prop, scrum-half and full-back.
Oscar Lennon was brought in from Hartpury on a short-term deal last week, impressed against Bath in a starting role with his quick and fluid distribution but has a calf problem and is a major doubt for Sunday’s clash against Harlequins.
Jake Woolmore has created further headaches in the front row, joining Max Lahiff and John Afoa, with Kyle Sinckler away on England duty and Lam confident his reported back injury isn’t too serious. The Bears did add Sam Nixon last week from Exeter Chiefs to bolster the ranks in that area.
Meanwhile, Ioan Lloyd has a cheek injury, sustained in making a tackle at the Rec last weekend, leaving Lam without four first-choice full-backs, as Charles Piutau (Achilles) won't be back until the end of the month, Luke Morahan (hamstring) the Champions Cup quarter-finals at the earliest, while Charlie Powell is also out and Henry Purdy was a surprise absentee at Bath.
“We seem to get hit in the same positions. Ioan took quite a heavy knock to the cheekbone so he’s a big doubt,” Lam said. “Oscar Lennon did really well in his debut game but, again, with the heavy ground he was struggling with his calf after the game so hasn’t trained much this week.
“The same with Jake Woolmore and his calf. So we’ll see how it all pans out before the end of the week. With a Sunday game, we have a couple more days.
“There are always positives, someone else has to step up, you work your way through the challenges. It’s phenomenal, the 9s, it’s crazy but it is what it is and you roll with the punches.”
There is some good news, however, as Lennon’s likely absence has been offset slightly by on-loan Max Green taking part in two training sessions this week following a hand injury, while Callum Sheedy is also expected back at Abbots Leigh today having been left out of the Wales team for their Six Nations clash against France.
Green or Theo Strang will start against Quins, as along with Lennon, Lam is without Harry Randall (England duty), Andy Uren (hamstring), Tom Whiteley and Toby Venner (both knee, out for the season).
"It happens, it’s like life - you don’t know what’s around the corner and it’s how you deal with it. It’s an opportunity for someone else," Lam added.
"Scrum-half is the toughest position because 9 is such a big part of the game. That’s why I’ve been really pleased with the forwards over the last two games because they’ve given us that platform and I thought Oscar did well (against Bath) for his first ever game, and a week’s training.
"Key personnel drive our game. We've not had an injury crisis in terms of numbers, the crisis is in the key positions. When you build a team, you want your first and second string not being far off in these positions - two 9s, or two 10s.
"I don't think anyone has told me they've seen a situation where you're down to your seventh scrum-half in a season."
