We were destroyed at the breakdown – Lam
PAT Lam admits his Bristol Bears players all need to be “on the same page” if they are to arrest their poor start to the Gallagher Premiership season, writes Duncan Bech.
The Bears led 24-7 at half-time in Friday night’s match at Harlequins, but in a turnaround remarkably similar to that which saw the hosts come from 28-0 down to win last season’s Premiership semi-final at Ashton Gate, Quins scored 45 unanswered points in the second half to win by a wide margin.
Bristol have now lost three of their opening four games, but director of rugby Lam is refusing to press the panic button.
“Rugby is a simple game and it’s about looking at what your roles are,” he said. “It’s a team game. We need 15 guys on the same page, doing their jobs well.
“We take the glory when we win games, and we’ll take the hurt when we lose the game.
“When we do what we talked about and what we did in training we are a really good team. When we break out of that (it goes wrong).
“Harlequins are a good attacking side, we knew they were going to come back, we spoke at half-time that we needed to keep the ball and be good at the breakdown and we were destroyed at the breakdown in that second half.
“I will go back and see whether it was our fault or because of them, but we have to tidy that area because we lost all continuity.”
Quins match-winners Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt were acclaimed afterwards by senior coach Tabai Matson.
Smith replaced the injured Tommy Allan in the first half and celebrated his first appearance after a summer when he won his first England caps and played for the British & Irish Lions by pulling the strings in the eight-try rout.
And every bit as influential was Dombrandt, whose second-half try was the highlight of an all-court display that will have impressed
HARLEQUINS .................. 52 BRISTOL BEARS ............. 24
Eddie Jones as the Red Rose boss looks for a replacement for Billy Vunipola at number eight.
“Marcus Smith in this system is exceptional. Any time he gets into his groove he not only creates opportunities but is a real handful for the opposition,” Matson said.
“The try he scored on the chip through shows a world-class skill set. He was a little bit rusty on some of his kicks, but this was his first game back so you expect that.
“I wouldn’t say Alex is unique, but he’s rare as a loose forward. He’s very skilled. His anticipation of where the line breaks are going to be means that he can put the hammer down ten seconds earlier in his support lines and assists.
“He’s so skilful, and he’s playing really well. I thought he played exceptionally well. Defensively he was bloody good and got a couple of key turnovers.”
The size of Quins’ eventual win barely looked possible after being run ragged by the speed and width of Bristol’s early onslaught.
“Clearly the score is a massive surprise... I wasn’t expecting it. But I was expecting us to click a few more times in attack, defend a bit more stoutly and then see what happened,” Matson added.
The Bears scored tries through Joe Joyce, Henry Purdy and Charles Piutau.
Harlequins: Green; Lynagh, Marchant, Esterhuizen, Murley; Allan, Care; Marler, Walker, Kerrod, Symons, Lamb, Lawday, Kenningham, Dombrandt. Replacements: Northmore for Lynagh (53), Steele for Care (64), Baxter for Marler (75), Collier for Kerrod (57), J Chisholm for Lawday (53), Tizard for Kenningham (75). Not Used: Riley, Smith.
Scorers – Tries: Lynagh 2, Esterhuizen, Northmore, Collier Green, Smith, Dombrandt. Cons: Smith 6. Bristol: Piutau; Adeolokun, O’Connor, Bedlow,
Purdy; Sheedy, Randall; Y Thomas, Kerr, Sinckler, Joyce, Holmes, Vui, Heenan, Harding. Replacements: Lloyd for Adeolokun (62), Lahiff for Y Thomas (63), Thacker for Kerr (60), Uren for Joyce (60), Hughes for Harding (67). Not Used: Woolmore, D Thomas, Leiua.
Scorers – Tries: Joyce, Purdy, Piutau. Cons:
3. Pens: Sheedy.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU).
Sheedy