Rugby It’s all about winning the trophies now, says Bears boss
PAT Lam says his Bristol Bears side are “not done yet” after securing their place in the Gallagher Premiership playoffs for the first time in 13 years.
The Bears clinched their place with a 36-7 bonus-point victory against London Irish at the Twickenham Stoop, and with a Challenge Cup final berth against Toulon on October 16 already earned, Lam will be looking to make it two finals in the space of eight days with a semi-final victory next Saturday.
“We’ve got a great opportunity in six days’ time to prepare well and put Bristol Bears into two finals, this is a process to get to the next level. There’s no point going to the semi, unless you get to the final and there’s no point showing up in the final if you don’t go on and don’t win the trophy, that’s our mindset,” the Bears’ director of rugby.
“We’ve overachieved in the sense of where the expectation was, however not in the sense of the work that everyone’s put in. Everyone has worked hard, staff included, on and off the field to get us to where we are.”
Lam believes a semi-final and a final equates to a good season for the club, but he is looking to add trophies to the rather empty looking cabinet at Ashton Gate - with the club’s last significant honours coming back in 1983 when they lifted the John Player Trophy.
He said: “At the moment it (201920) will go down as a very, very good season, but for me it’s not finished, we want the trophies.
“That’s what this rugby is, that’s why we love these games, you go out on the field, 80 minutes and at the end of it you’re either holding a trophy or you’re not and that’s a privilege to be in those situations,
we’ve done well to get us to this stage, but it’s not done yet.”
As it stands, Bristol are set to travel to Wasps in the play-offs, but with the ongoing situation with Sale not yet resolved, Bristol’s semifinal opponents won’t be confirmed until tomorrow night when the Sharks are due to take on Worcester Warriors after it was postponed on Sunday following a Covid-19 breakout at the club.
Bath, who drew 17-17 with Saracens on Sunday, which allowed Bristol to leapfrog their derby rivals into third, will be left hanging to find out whether their season is over - with Sale capable of claiming the final semi-final spot with a victory in their Round 22 game.
But a frustrated Lam said PRL’s decision to allow the game to be played in midweek will have a significant impact on all the sides in the top four.
He said: “We’re all involved indirectly, we know we are in regardless but at the moment with the way it stands we are going to Wasps, but we’ve got to wait and see and you know a lot of planning and preparations goes into it.
“Now we’ve got to wait and see what happens on Wednesday night, if we’re going to Wasps or going to Exeter.”
At the moment it (2019-20) will go down as a very, very good season, but for me it’s not finished, we want the trophies