O’Conor could make surprise Bristol return against Gloucester
BRISTOL Bears could be boosted by the surprise return of centre Piers O’Conor tomorrow when Gloucester come to Ashton Gate in the Gallagher Premiership.
The centre jarred his knee in the 52-3 thrashing of Brive in the European Challenge Cup on January 13 and there were initial fears he could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
But this week Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said: “Piers could make it through this week hopefully. He is doing modified training so we will see how he goes, but I will be governed by the medical and S&C (strength & conditioning) teams.
“It is good news if he is playing, it is only okay news if he is better but can’t play.”
The centre’s return would be welcome news with Sam Bedlow missing the 7-7 draw with Zebre last week after suffering a knock on his shoulder in training. Siale Piutau is not expected back until April/ May with a knee injury and Will Hurrell is struggling with concussion. Ian Madigan donned the 12 shirt at the weekend, while Alapati Leiua was at outside centre, with new signing Henry Purdy, who of course is a former Cherry and White, coming off the bench.
It has been a gruelling slog to this point in the season with a compacted schedule due to a late start to the campaign with the Rugby World Cup taking place in the autumn.
Following the game against the Cherry and Whites, Bristol will have a 22-day break before they play Northampton Saints on February 16.
John Afoa, who is expected to miss the encounter with his former club tomorrow, is set to be back for the trip to Franklin’s Gardens.
Lam said: “We are 21 games in now. That is massive and unheard of anywhere in world rugby to have played 21 games non-stop if you include the Premiership Cup games.
“It has been a huge effort by the squad to get us here where we have a home quarter and potential home semi in Europe and we are sitting within the top six in the league.
“Obviously there was a dip in form around the Christmas period, (when Bristol lost all three games) and we have got a few guys out injured, but it has been a massive squad effort to get us to here.
“The boys will get a week off next week to recover.
Bristol’s Piers O’Conor
Speaking about the shape of his squad, Lam said: “We are hanging in there. There are few guys who are doing modified training, so we will have to make a call whether they are good enough to train.
“The guys who had the sickness (including second row Chris Vui) lost a bit of weight but are back and we are just monitoring that, there are a couple who have still got the bug. There are a few certainties who won’t be there which we already know about (Charles and Siale Piutau among others) and a few niggles. It is a bit of a juggle which you would expect after 21 rounds, but the team we name to go out will be strong.”
Nathan Hughes failed a HIA after coming off in the first half in Parma last Saturday and will be undergoing the return-to-play protocols this week.