LUKE MORAHAN
Bears have strength in depth to take on anyone during Six Nations
WING Luke Morahan believes Bears have the strength-in-depth to overcome the loss of so many stars and maintain their drive for title glory.
Pat Lam is without the injured Semi Radradra and Nathan Hughes, and England trio Kyle Sinckler, Ben Earl and Max Malins for today’s trip to Brentford.
Talismanic back rower Steven Luatua is back in the mix and Morahan said: “They’re obviously worldclass guys we’re missing but we’ve got a deep enough squad to really take it to every team we play.
“We’ve ground out wins that we probably wouldn’t have done in previous seasons and that’s down to the increased depth.
“In the Challenge Cup final last year, we were missing quite a few key guys and still got the win, so the attitude Pat is instilling in us is that it doesn’t matter who’s on the field, if you’re in a Bears shirt they’re expecting quality.”
Having escaped with a one-point win at Gloucester last week, Morahan added: “We were definitely relieved with that win.
“We made it quite hard for ourselves and were lucky there in the end with a penalty in the last few minutes. We had a serious review and found a lot of areas to fix if we’re to get a win over London Irish.
“They’re a good team and we’re not looking too much at their loss against Exeter. As we found at Gloucester, the table doesn’t mean much and if you’re not on it you can get beaten.”
Bristol were indebted to Ioan Lloyd’s winning penalty at Kingsholm and Morahan believes the 19year-old schemer, below left, has a massive future.
“I’ve been hugely impressed with Ioan,” says Aussie Morahan, who once witnessed the astonishing rise of James O’Connor in his native land before his star waned amid a blaze of negative publicity – a trap into which he insists Lloyd will not fall.
Morahan said: “Ioan’s got a good head on his shoulders and is very down to earth, and over the last couple of weeks he’s had a lot of weight to carry.
“With Callum Sheedy being away, suddenly he’s been running a team at a club that aspires to be one of the best in the world, so it’s been a big learning curve for him but he’s very confident and has been doing really well for us.
“He deserved the caps he got for Wales in the autumn and he’s got a very good support group around him to keep him grounded.
“Looking back at James O’Connor, he got stardom very quickly in Australia, to a point that not many got to previously. That’s a very difficult thing to deal with and he probably paved the way for guys to learn from his mistakes.
“There’s a big focus at Bristol on players staying down to earth and I’ve no qualms that Ioan will keep going well.”
According to Morahan, another Bear with a big future is the increasingly influential Piers O’Conor, below right.
Morahan said: “Piers’ versatility for any international team would be massive – he can play 12, 13, wing or full-back.
“He’s been fantastic for us over the last three years and is on a trajectory to bigger things. He’s eligible for other countries but I’d be surprised if England don’t pick him up.”
Meanwhile, Morahan’s commitment to Bristol was reaffirmed last week when he opened the ‘Burra’ coffee shop in Clifton with back rower Jake Heenan.
Morahan, 30, added: “We’ve done our due diligence and see this as a big opportunity. Like the Bears, we want to get in among the big boys now and take them on. Bristol’s becoming an emotional part of my life so I’ve no plans to head home any time
soon.”