Highly regarded Welsh flanker Sam Lewis made was named in Bristol Bears 36-man squad which travelled out to France to take on Brive in pre-season on Friday night.
The Bears were beaten 22-17 against the French Top 14 side.
The 31-year-old backrower was released by former club Worcester Warriors back in June in a move which took many by surprise as he has been a consistently high performer for the 2021/22 Premiership Rugby Cup winners.
However this week Worcester’s financial plight has come into harsh focus, with the Premiership club widely reported to be on the verge of going into administration with HMRC chasing a £6m unpaid tax backlog, perhaps explaining the need to let likes of Lewis leave.
BristolLive understand Lewis has been training with the Bears this summer to stay in shape but is not officially ‘on trial’ at the club as such.
However Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam has previously come to similar arrangements with the likes of former Irish international winger Niyi Adeolokun who showed enough quality in training to earn a contract at the club.
Lewis joined Warriors from Ospreys in March 2015, going on to make more than 100 appearances for the club before leaving Sixways an is regarded as one of the best-uncapped flankers in the Premiership.
Last month The Rugby Paper reported he was waiting on offers from Japan and the USA for the upcoming seaosn, although Bristol could now provide the Welshman a lifeline closer to home.
The Bears are well stocked in the backrow with Sam Jeffries, Dan Thomas, Fitz Harding and Steven Luatua as Lam’s primary options on the flanks along with new signing Magnus Bradbury, although Mitch Eadie and Nathan Hughes were released at the end of their contracts earlier this summer and are currently without a club.
Bristol's James Dun is currently on loan at Jersey Reds.
However any director of rugby looking to make late additions to their squads will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the unfortunate situation at Worcester which could see the club go out of business and force the Warriors' entire playing squad to look for new jobs.
Focussing in the Worcester backrow, England international Ted Hill and impressive Kyle Hatherell, would certainly attract significant interest from rival Premiership clubs providing they have room within their salary cap budgets.
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