Bench players were phenomenal, says Bears boss Lam

PAT Lam hailed the impact of his Bristol Bears replacements after they helped turn around Saturday’s Premiership game at Leicester late on, writes John Evely.

The Bears were trailing 19-0 with little more than ten minutes left, but roared back to win 21-19 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Replacement prop Max Lahiff touched down for a brace of shortrange tries before Magnus Bradbury finished off a flowing move.

Conversions from James Williams and AJ MacGinty also proved vital.

Bristol lie fourth in the standings, level on points with fifth-placed

Harlequins amid a congested race for the play-off places.

Reflecting on the victory, director of rugby Lam, pictured, said: “I am proud. This is another experience they can add into their bank of mental toughness and resilience.

“The belief was phenomenal. When the bench players came on, the message was just do what we do in training. We can go the length of the field if everyone does their roles, and we did. So I am very proud.

“Even when we dropped a couple of balls on right on our line, I know most people would say stop running, but it was actually on, our execution was just off. So the message was just to keep believing. The bench players were phenomenal when they came on and they gave us a real energy boost – the six-day turnaround (from the previous game) was taking a real toll, so it was great to get that boost from the bench.

“This result is massive for us going forwards and our whole focus now is on Saracens.”

The Bears will definitely reach the play-offs with two victories, although they could barely be tougher games with Saracens at home on Saturday, May 11, and Harlequins away seven days later.