BRISTOL STAR PIUTAU SETS SIGHTS AS HIGH AS HIS PAY SERGIO SAILS CLOSE TO WYND
CHARLES PIUTAU insists his £1million annual salary will not weigh heavily on his shoulders.
And the world’s best-paid rugby player fired a warning to Bristol’s Premiership rivals by insisting the division’s new boys are genuine top-six contenders.
The former All Black (left) joined this summer following Bristol’s promotion after previously impressing for Ulster and Wasps.
He said: “My price tag never brings any pressure. I just focus on my role, try to bring my best to the team, and we can definitely stay in the division.
“The management are doing a great job and we can’t wait to get into things, but the Champions Cup is a big goal for us this season and we want to strive for that. The Premiership is very competitive and the bottom team can beat the top side, which shows how great the competition is. “We’ve some really good players and I’m happy with the skill and the talent I’ve seen here so far. Bristol is an exciting team to be a part of.” Bristol ran away with the Championship last term and head coach Pat Lam (left) has spent big for the Premiership campaign.
Piutau, capped 16 times by New Zealand, ditched international rugby to move to Bristol. He added: “It’s world class here. I haven’t thought too much about missing the World Cup next year.”
SERGIO GARCIA needs a top-20 finish in this week’s Wyndham Championship to keep alive his streak of qualifying for the FedEx Cup play-offs.
Garcia has reached the play-offs every year since they began in 2007 but is currently ranked 131st in the standings after three missed cuts in his last four events.
Only the top 125 in North Carolina on Sunday evening will make the post- season, with 375 points projected to be the total required for the opening play-off event. Garcia has 331 points and would receive 45 for finishing alone in 20th.
The last time the former Masters champion finished that high on the leaderboard in a strokeplay event on the PGA Tour was in the Valspar Championship in March, when he was fourth behind England’s Paul Casey.