Rugby Lam is heartened by Bears’ work ethic in win at Wasps
BRISTOL Bears recorded back-toback wins for the first time this season with a 30-19 victory against Wasps in yesterday’s Rugby Premiership Cup game at the Ricoh Arena.
Head coach Pat Lam was impressed with the work ethic of the side and the “process” by which they achieved the victory.
“What I’m really pleased with is the way in which they got it, making sure we got our core fundamentals right – our set-piece was good last week and was again this week.
“We are building pressure in the right areas of the field. There was some really good rugby out there.
“What pleased me most was the work ethic. When things are going wrong, we have the mental capacity to stay calm and work our way out of tough situations, which we didn’t do particularly well in that Worcester game.”
The Bears have won three of their five games since their disappointing afternoon at Worcester and Lam believes his side are in the right place to keep this form going, particularly as the pack have shown a dramatic improvement.
Said Lam: “We came away from the Worcester game knowing there were areas of our game that we had to get better at and we had to tidy up.
“I am pleased for the coaches and the forwards for putting a lot of effort into getting those things right.
“The back row were excellent. Steve Luatua was outstanding, Dan Thomas and Jordan Crane brought their experience and it was great to be able to bring George Smith on to replace Jordan’s experience and close the game out.”
The Bears’ next challenge is a home game against Exeter Chiefs in the Gallagher Premiership this Sunday – and Lam is hopeful of another home victory.
“It’s another step-up,” he said. “Exeter are one of the top sides and we’re going to be challenged in the forward area, so that’s what all this build up has been for.”
“We always back ourselves. We want to win, but the focus will be on the process of winning the game and how we go about it.
“We are excited to be back at home, we go into it on the back of two courageous wins and hopefully it’s a sell-out. We have a good idea how we go about it and hopefully we can do the job.”