On the wall of Pat Lam’s office at Bristol Bears’ high performance centre there is just one rugby shirt on display. The former Samoa captain has worn many over the years but a Connacht jersey from their title-winning Pro12 season of 2016 has symbolic pride of place. “I’ve won a lot of stuff but it’s there as a reminder that it’s not about how much money you have,” the 56-year-old says. “It’s about everything being in place and everyone doing their bit.”
Along the corridor in the team meeting room are more direct motivational messages. Let’s call them the Bear necessities. “Through Them, Around Them, Over Them … it’s all about the Ball,” reads one. “Shape, Alignment, Lines, Timing, Execution,” emphasises another. Watching Bristol’s finely tuned thoroughbreds at full gallop in training on a lovely sunny Thursday morning is certainly among club rugby’s more impressive spectacles.
And maybe this could be the spring which sees the final flowering of the collective eight-year Bears project since Lam’s arrival from the aforementioned Connacht in 2017. There are seven regular season Premiership games left and Bristol currently lie second behind West Country neighbours Bath. The quickening ground will suit their attacking game and their mid-winter injury blues are also starting to ease at just the right time.
All of which could be slightly ominous for this weekend’s reshuffled visitors, Exeter Chiefs, particularly with Lam’s desire for Premiership glory still burning bright. “Right now that’s my focus, to get this Premiership. I want Bristol to be a ‘Super Club’, a club that’s always contesting. We should have won it in 2021 [when they surrendered a 28-0 semi-final lead to eventual champions Harlequins] but, looking back, it was a blessing in disguise. If we’d won then we probably wouldn’t have realised all the things we still needed to change. We’re in far better shape now.”
Hopes are rising, accordingly, that success for Bristol is not a million miles away. There is just one potential distraction, directly visible across the Severn estuary. Wales. They need an experienced head coach and Lam is the current bookies’ favourite. Way back in 1991 he was part of the Western Samoa side who famously beat Wales 16-13 in Cardiff at the World Cup so he is not entirely a stranger to abject Welsh despair.
Little wonder, then, that Lam was suitably diplomatic – “It’s flattering …” – this week about any potential Welsh interest. On the one hand, the timing is slightly awkward but, equally, he has always loved a challenge. Reading between the lines – and his contract at Bristol runs until 2028 – he will not take any role unless he is master of his own destiny. “I want to drive the game, the culture and the leadership. Those are the three non-negotiables everywhere I’ve been.” Would that still apply in the future? “Yeah. I can’t go and coach if all the other stuff isn’t sorted because it’s going to fall flat. You’re only as good as the people you have around you.”
Fundamental to any enterprise, in other words, is the concept of reliable individuals pulling in the same direction. “If you’re going to take any of these international jobs it’s about saying: ‘Here’s the main team but are they coming from winning environments? Are the S&C [strength and conditioning] and medical departments working together?’ Then you’ve got half a chance. You’ve got a conveyor belt going, a bit of pride and all that stuff. That’s why New Zealand rugby was always strong. Everything was geared towards making the All Blacks successful.”
Lam also skippered Northampton to the European Cup 25 years ago and is familiar with the state of play across the home unions, having previously served as an assistant coach with Scotland in 2003. “Ireland have the best setup currently. Four teams, central contracts, they’re aligned. Wales? I look at that as an opportunity. You’ve got to get the regions and the pathways right. Scotland? They’ve been through their challenges but their two teams, Glasgow particularly, are going well.”
Leicester Tigers sink teeth into struggling Saints
Leicester struck a potentially terminal blow to Northampton’s Premiership title defence with a dominant 33-0 victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
The Tigers scored three tries in the opening 13 minutes to rapidly take the game away from their East Midlands rivals and increase the gap between the two sides in the table to 14 points.
Michael Cheika’s side are up to third - for 24 hours at least as they moved above Gloucester and opened up a six-point advantage over fifth-placed Saracens - with the Saints now needing a miraculous run to remain in the play-off picture.
A Leicester infringement straight from the kick-off meant Northampton were immediately on the attack, with tighthead Trevor Davison knocking on with the try line at his mercy before a minute had been played.
The hosts had missed their first big opportunity but Leicester did not do likewise as Handre Pollard got away down the right before timing his pass to put Adam Radwan in the clear for the opening try in the fourth minute.
The Tigers were soon celebrating again when Jack van Poortvliet chipped over George Hendy before winning a race for the ball with Tom Pearson to gather and score.
The rampant visitors were quickly in once more when Olly Cracknell received the ball following a line-out and broke through some flimsy tackling to barge over.
Pollard then added two penalties either side of the half-hour to extend Leicester’s already considerable lead to 23-0 as they continued to dominate all facets of the match.
The shell-shocked Saints were unable to get themselves on the board before half-time and falling rain did nothing to improve their chances of getting back in the contest.
The hosts desperately needed to score first in the second half but instead it was the visitors who kept their tally ticking over as Pollard slotted another penalty.
Henry Pollock, scorer of two tries on his England debut against Wales last week, almost made an instant impact off the bench with an electric burst down the left that was well stopped by Radwan metres short.
Further evidence that this was not Northampton’s night came with Emmanuel Iyogun knocked on in stretching for the line after a quickly taken penalty.
Pollock then looked to have finally got the Saints off the mark after 54 minutes when he ran in off George Hendy’s pass but the score was ruled out for the former fumbling a Leicester clearance at the start of the move.
Just to rub salt in the wounds the Tigers sealed the try bonus point with four minutes remaining when Charlie Clare gratefully gathered Pollock’s loose pass in the Northampton 22 and ran in unopposed. PA Media
And England? Like everyone else Lam enjoyed the latter stages of the Six Nations but remains adamant too much young talent is squandered because clubs in certain fertile breeding grounds are allowed to stockpile excessive numbers of players. “The academy boundaries are the biggest hindrance. Yes, you’re going to get the Henry Pollocks coming through but how many are missing out? How many players are leaving the game at a young age because of this system?”
A nationwide draft system might be the answer but only, reckons Lam, if there is a reduction in self-interest. “It’s like politics. Or Donald Trump. People who are losing their kickbacks are getting angry at Trump. It’s the same anywhere. If it works for me, why would I want to change it? But is it working for the good of the whole game? It’s not. I see so much talent here. It’s just about making sure that’s all harnessed as best you can.”
Interesting. Lam is a longtime fan of the Rocky movies and has never lacked for drive or passion. “People think that all English rugby clubs are the same. They’re not. I’ve seen myself all this time as not only fighting the system but trying to beat the system.” Currently, he says, Bristol are the eighth-lowest spending team in the Premiership but reverting to a smaller, leaner squad has been beneficial in some ways. “Bath’s squad is ridiculous. They are spending nearly £2.5m more than we have this year. That’s not the salary cap, that’s budget.
“Obviously they get more credits for England players but if you look at pure money they are way above us. I love it … it’s like being back at Connacht in a way. We’ve got to maximise everything. The boys get on better and the young academy boys are getting more opportunities. The smaller your squad the more cohesive it can be, as long as you don’t get too many injuries.”
And wherever life takes him next, Lam’s convictions will never soften. “I always say ‘Good players play the game, great players know the game’. When you know the game it’s so easy. We can see it, talk about it and make it happen.” So are Bristol ready to take the final big leap? “We’ve still got a couple of things we need to do and then, off the back of that, your chances of titles go up. Not just once but the next year and the year after that. Then I feel I can leave somewhere, because everything is in place.”
