It is all change in the backrow this week at Bristol Bears with Pat Lam confirming he has two new players back in the selection mix but looks set to be without his captain Jake Heenan for the trip to Gloucester.
Joe Batley, who was signed as a lock that can also play blindside, comes into the mix this week having joined Bristol from Worcester Warriors last week after the club went into administration, were suspended from the Premiership, and wound up financially in the courts.
Sam Lewis, another former Worcester flanker who was signed by the Bears this summer, has also recovered from injury to add much needed additional options in the backrow with New Zealander Heenan suffering an ankle injury in the humbling 50-14 defeat to Exeter Chiefs on Friday night.
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Lam said: “Jake is doubtful. He rolled his ankle during the game against Exeter. I don’t think it is as bad as we first thought. He was in a boot straight afterwards which we do as a precaution but he will be struggling to make this week, but hopefully, he won’t be for too long.”
Batley re-joined Bristol last week after two seasons away at Worcester. The 6ft 6in forward initially joined Bristol in 2017 but his career was disrupted when he was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during the Bears’ Greene Ling IPA Championship-winning campaign the following year. He was given the all-clear to resume playing after a course of debilitating chemotherapy and was on loan at Leicester Tigers before the Gallagher Premiership season was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
Despite having been back at Bristol for less than a week, Lam said he has hit the ground running. He said: “It is pretty easy to get Joe up to speed. A couple of calls have slightly changed but he has come back in and has been a great addition.
“He has stayed in contact with a lot of the guys here, has some close friends here and spent a lot of time with them, so the transition back in has been seamless for him and he is already making a big impact around setpiece and bringing some new ideas. It is great to have some competition in that area and just good to have him back.”
It is less good news for Bristol and Lam in the backs with the director of rugby confirming scrum half Harry Randall has been ruled out for three to four months having had surgery this week on a hamstring he partially torn off the bone against Exeter.
Elsewhere in the backline there looks to be no returning enforcements out wide with Luke Morahan, Siva Naulago and Gabriel Ibitoye still sidelined. The latter signed for the Bears in the summer amidst much excitement but is yet to make his debut.
Discussing former Harlequins win Ibitoye, Lam explained: “Those thoroughbreds in the backs it only takes a little thing because they run at a pretty high speed.
“He was all set to go, he was flying in pre-season and then he stained a quad and missed all the pre-season games; he worked his way back and then unfortunately he has got another slight strain in another muscle.
“He is not too far away and it is frustrating for him because he is looking good in training, but it is one of those things you can’t rush him back but he is chomping at the bitt to get back playing.”
Here is Bristol Bears' latest official unavailable list from last Thursday's team news announcement: Harry Thacker, Steven Luatua, Sam Jeffries, Sam Lewis, Fitz Harding, Semi Radradra, Luke Morahan, Siva Naulago, Gabriel Ibitoye.
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