Rugby Bears looking to build on Saints win in West derby clash
BRISTOL Bears head to Kingsholm tomorrow to take on Glouester in a Gallagher Premiership West Country derby.
Director of rugby Pat Lam will be looking for his side to build on last Friday’s impressive 52-21 home victory over Northampton Saints which brought the leaders’ 10-game winning streak to a halt.
The win also saw Bristol put themselves right in the mix for a top-four finish, moving from eighth up to sixth place in the Gallagher Premiership table.
After the win, Lam told BBC Radio Bristol: “It’s what we’ve worked on, that looked like our training, that looked like the work that we’ve put in. That’s not an easy game because they are a good side but we really focused on what we did.
“I said to the guys my favourite part of the first half was actually Maggy [Bradbury] losing the ball in the rain because we’ve been talking about when we do make mistakes it’s no problem, just get back in and get the ball back and that’s what they did.
“So many times when we allowed them to score a soft try we came back and scored again. That’s what we’ve been working on.
“We know what we’re trying to achieve, there’s eight teams trying to achieve it, but the only interest for us was today’s game. And now the only thing that matters is Gloucester and Kingsholm (the next game).”
Gloucester sit ninth in the table but 22 points clear of bottom side Newcastle, and they beat Leicester Tigers 25-27 at Welford Road last weekend.
Gloucester director of rugby,
George Skivington, told the club website: “We always have tough games with Bristol, and they had a very good game last weekend. We know the threats that Bristol present, we’ve experienced that firsthand this year already so they’re definitely not to be underestimated.”
He added: “They’re strong across the board. They move the ball very well; they’ve got a very strong attack.
“They play a different game to Leicester, not as much kicking, but like Leicester, their set-piece is very good so they’re not just an out-andout attack, but obviously they are very good when they play wide.”
However, he insisted Gloucester would look to impose their own game on their West Country rivals.
“There’s lots you have to focus on when you play Bristol but as ever, the biggest focus will be on us and our own game and as I said last week, we feel if we can impose our game then it will put us in a good position against anybody.”
Gloucester have good reason to be confident, as last week’s win against Leicester was their first win at Welford Road in over 16 years.
“It’s really, really tough to go to Welford Road, their defence particularly up there is pretty outstanding, so I’m really pleased with the result.”
Skivington knows how intimidating Welford Road can be from his playing days, so knows the mental strength his team needed to pick up the win.
“I’m really proud of the resilience we showed in the game, we led the game for the most part and then with ten minutes to go, Leicester got ahead but the boys managed to stick on task to get that try right at the end.
“There was a couple of areas that weren’t so great, but the boys backed themselves in key moments and sometimes they don’t come off but more than often they do and the way they stayed on task was brilliant.”