Lam: Heenan is an unsung hero

Bears director of rugby hails the importance of his current stand-in skipper

AMID Bristol Bears’ star-laden line-up, Jake Heenan’s name is not one that immediately stands out, nor does the work he gets through on the field afford him a high billing when breaking down the highlights of a performance.

The 30-year-old is not even a consistent starter under director of rugby Pat Lam, but the fact he is wearing the captain’s armband in the continued absence of Steven Luatua and phased return of Joe Joyce, outlines everything about

Heenan’s character in the Bears dressing room and on the field.

Always communicating, cajoling and encouraging; his voice on the field is matched by the standards he sets and the unfussy way he goes about things.

Qualities that Lam knew exactly what he would be getting, when he first brought the back rower over the Irish Sea to Bristol in 2018, having worked with him at Connacht when Heenan was 17, and prior to that, the Blues back home in Auckland.

Heenan, pictured, was an All Black prospect in his teens, representing his country at schoolboy level and captaining the Under-20s but Lam tempted him to Ireland in 2013 and even then he was complimenting the flanker’s attributes as a “team player”.

His impact with Connacht was significant, but also interrupted by a series of shoulder injuries which limited his availability over three seasons before he made the move to Ashton Gate five years ago.

Now part of the furniture with the Bears, and well-settled in Bristol having opened two Burra cafes in Redland and Gloucester Road with teammate Luke Morahan and chief