Searle earns praise for coming of age in Bristol survival fight
PRECOCIOUS fly-half Billy Searle deserves huge credit for keeping Bristol’s Premiership survival hopes alive, according to teammate Adrian Jarvis.
Searle, 20, arrived from National One Plymouth Albion last summer, ostensibly as a bit-part player behind experienced No. 10s Tusi Pisi, Gavin Henson, Jarvis and Callum Sheedy.
Instead, an injury crisis thrust the rookie into the limelight and Searle has responded impressively by guiding Bristol to three wins in four games, including last Monday’s critical 28-20 victory over top-flight basement rivals Worcester.
Jarvis told TRP: “Flyhalves have been dropping all season. It’s been a bit freaky but Billy’s come in and taken the bull by the horns.
“He’s obviously got a lot of composure for a young man; he’s kicking his goals, finding good field position from hand and creating tries as well.
“It’s not just about getting opportunities, it’s about taking them as well and Billy’s not been out of his depth. He’s been controlling games and has been instrumental in our upturn in form, so fair play to him for what he’s doing.”
Bristol visit struggling Sale today looking to continue a resurgence that began following Andy Robinson sacking in early November.
Asked to pinpoint the change under interim boss Mark Tainton, Jarvis said: “We’re playing with a bit more freedom. The game plan hasn’t completely changed but we’re expressing ourselves more and playing with added width.
“We’re going into games more confident that if our thought processes are correct we can execute our attacking plays and cause teams problems.”
Having experienced previous relegation battles with Bristol, as well former clubs Harlequins and Leeds, Jarvis insists the current Bristol side possess all the necessary ingredients to survive.
He said: “There’s a lot of optimism now and rightly so because even in the weeks before our victory over Worcester we’d showed massive improvement in terms of the way we were attacking and defending.
“Against Pau in the Challenge Cup we demonstrated we could play for the full 80 minutes against a good team, home and away, so while the first part of the season did not go to plan, we’ve shown we are now able to compete.
“To succeed in relegation battles you must believe in what you’re doing for 80 minutes under intense pressure. Earlier we’d drift in and out of games, but we’ve worked on concentration and put that to bed
“As a squad, we’ve taken huge confidence from what we’ve done over the last few weeks, and especially so against Worcester, and it gives us some real belief and momentum going into Sale and the rest of the season.”
Tusi Pisi’s suspension means USA international Thretton Palamo comes in at outside-centre for Bristol, with Will Hurrell switching to No.12 as the only changes to their starting XV.
Sale change four with Sam James partnering James Mitchell in the halves, Josh Beaumont returning at No.8 and Sam Tuitupou at inside-centre.