If Pat Lam was in any doubt as to whether Harry Randall is true captaincy material, as he prepares to lead the Bears for the first time in a West Country derby, it was firmly cleared during a heated confrontation in training with Ellis Genge.
Challenged by the formidable face, fury and verbals of a raging ‘Baby Rhino’ over a disagreement during a drill at the Bears High Performance Centre last month, a younger, greener Randall may well have backed down under such a threat. But to Lam’s delight the scrum-half fired right back at his fellow England international before the two talked things out and settled their differences in the moment.
It was one of many signs over the last few months that have shown the Bears No9 not just to be a more all-round player, but also a more mature individual who's willing, able and happy to lead the team on the field; Bristol’s “Little General” as Lam affectionately calls him.
Bristol's director of rugby believes Randall’s decision-making and sense of timing are as refined and accurate as they’ve ever been, all flowing from his desire to put the team on his back, carry them forward and accept the repercussions if things don’t work out.
“I would say Harry Randall is the best I’ve ever seen him,” Lam said. “He’s gone to another level as far as his leadership goes, he drives a lot of our attack, he drives a lot of the culture; his challenge in the environment is massive and I think the best bit of that I’ve seen is when Gengey got right into him and he went flying back at Gengey.
“They were arguing on the field and then they sorted it all out, and they got the solution. And I was like, ‘there we go’. He stood his ground. He basically got punched and he punched back, but it was done with the verbals. (That’s) what an environment really needs, I want everybody to be challenged.
“I’ve just seen a complete change, he’s looking at the game completely different - from a leadership role, rather than just playing the game, and you can see the impact. He’s got a very strong relationship with Callum Sheedy, and he’s made the effort to build a huge, strong relationship with AJ MacGinty and that’s a real plus for the team. But he drives a lot of our game now. He is a little general, and that’s what I’m seeing.
“He now feels accountable for the way we play as a group, so I’m very happy for Harry.
“Certainly, this season, when we’ve been struggling as a group, he’s gone, ‘right, I’m going to take this’ and step forward and take control and drive a lot more things and be accountable. He’s benefitted the team, and certainly benefited from it, and long may it continue.”
Leading the team out at the Rec on Friday night will be a proud moment for Randall and a signifier of his development with the genesis of his role of skipper dating back to December, where he was granted admission to a unique club.
“I have a small group of key leaders for the field and he came and actually said to me, ‘I’m a bit disappointed I’m not in that’,” Lam explains. “And I said, ‘why?’ and he said, ‘because I think I should be’.
"So I brought him one day and said, ‘meet me at this time’ and he didn’t know what was going on. I was with that group and I said, ‘look, Harry’s here and he’d like to join the group so, Harry, would you like to tell the guys what you want to bring to the group?’ And he spoke passionately and I said, ‘do you guys want him in the group?’ and they all went, ‘yeah!’
“He’s not waiting for things to happen, how he sees things now is he just gets things done - he speaks his mind and a lot of what he says makes sense.”
It’s impossible to discuss the 25-year-old without deviating into conversations around England and certainly captaining and performing at such a consistently high level can only thrust him further into Steve Borthwick’s thinking.
Randall has endured a challenging first few years in the international environment, earning two caps under Eddie Jones but suffering a hip injury while paddle-boarding with the squad in November, following an ankle injury during a Six Nations camp earlier in the year.
England’s current No9s for their next assignment against Wales are Jack van Poortvliet and Alex Mitchell, while Ben Youngs and Raffi Quirke are also part of the equation, as Randall’s hamstring tear in October last year, which required surgery - came at the wrong time, ruling him out of the November internationals, pushing him further from contention, albeit with Borthwick taking over with a clean pair of eyes.
But the time out of the game, as he didn’t return until January, also allowed a period for reflection and how he can further improve as he enters the stage of being an established, senior professional rather than the bright, young talent he’s previously been categorised as.
“If you do your business for the club, the rest will take care of itself," Lam said. "So he is 100 per cent invested. I get the advantage of seeing what he’s doing around the club; he’s in here having a chat with the coaches about the game, then he’s in the middle of the laughter and the banter. So he’s really come on and really taken hold of what being a good leader is.
“The boys love him, have a lot of respect for him and you’ll find him speaking in a lot of the huddles, directing.
“The England stuff will take care of itself. England are blessed with some very good 9s, but if he keeps focusing, he’ll put himself in the frame.
“I think when he got injured, he made the England team and then he got himself injured and in that period of time, when you’re injured, naturally you reflect and I think, also, Harry is well-respected and well-liked by the group.
"And when I talk about rugby intellect, Harry has that in bucket-loads; when to go, when to break, he sees the game really well and, naturally, just has a real understanding.”
