Bears bite back after Lam’s offer of the chop

Quins rolled over

BRISTOL BEARS transformed themselves from teddies to grizzlies at Harlequins, after Pat Lam bared his teeth at half-time.

With his side 9- 5 down at the break, Bristol boss Lam warned his players :‘ Christmas was yesterday — if you don’t want to be here, get back on the bus.’

And Bristol responded superbly, clinching a bonus-point win which sees them move to second in the Premiership.

Quins promised a lot in the firsthalf, but once again had nothing to shout about come the end.

Marcus Smith took all their points, hitting four penalties and scoring a try which he also converted, while Dan Thomas, Steven Luatua, Harry Randall and Niyi Adeolokun scored for Bristol.

After their capitulation in Europe, losing 49-7 to Racing 92 last Sunday, it was obvious Quins’ focus since had been on defence.

In the first-half they were all angry and shouty, particularly when holding out Bristol’s mauls. With every turnover came roars from coaches and substitutes, as well as back slaps and whoops on the field.

The conscious effort to get themselves riled up in all the right places paid off initially. Smith took three nearly identical penalties, all won at the breakdown and kicked from bang in front.

They could have had a try too, when Wilco Louw went over, but when referee Matthew Carley asked TMO Wayne Barnes if it was scored or not the grounding was not clear enough to award it.

‘I can’t see why he couldn’t have awarded the try,’ said Quins’ Paul Gustard. ‘It was a big decision.’

Having huffed and puffed throughout the half, the Bears finally blew the house down with a try.

Thomas performed a lovely onetwo with Luatua and, on taking the return pass, raced in.

The conversion was missed but Bristol only trailed by four at the break. Lam then offered his Bears a stark choice.

‘I just opened the door that went out to the bus,’ he said.

‘I said: “There are two doors you can choose, fellas. If we are going to continue playing like that as individuals, just step on the bus”.

‘But if you want to go back out the other door and play, you are going to have to play as a team.

‘We were woeful. It was probably the worst 40 minutes we have had for a while.’ The rocket worked. Luatua bashed over four minutes into the new half, converted by

Callum Sheedy — who then cancelled out an equalising penalty from Smith with one of his own.

And when Randall scooted in, finding a big gap left by Quins at the side of a ruck, the Bears were suddenly eight points up with their Christmas cobwebs blasted away.

Quins then started to panic, giving away penalties, falling off tackles and drifting away with the wind and rain at The Stoop.

Of all the teams to be trailing to in the Premiership, you would take Harlequins in a flash — such is their propensity to collapse under pressure.

Adeolokun scored the bonuspoint try for Bristol, assisted by the imperious Luatua, running down the left wing and through a revolving-door tackle from Mike Brown.

Smith did take a consolation try at the end, which he converted, but it was not enough for a losing bonus point.

Lam spent the last 10 minutes barking orders, counting down the clock for his charges, and when it hit zero the Bears’ transformation back into beasts was complete.

‘It was a good lesson for us to still win the game and get five points,’ he concluded.