Bristol Bears head to Bordeaux with one eye on the Falcons

BRISTOL Bears travel to France this weekend to take on familiar European foes Bordeaux Begles in the second pool stage game of the Investec Champions Cup.

Both sides got off to a winning start with French Top 14 side Bordeaux beating Connacht 41-5 at The Sportsground to go top of Pool One, Bristol made hard work of things but picked up a 36-34 bonus point win against Lyon at Ashton Gate to go second.

The last time the two sides met back in 2021, Bordeaux ran out 36-17 winners in the last 16 knockout round of the Champions Cup.

Ahead of today’s game, which kicks off at 3.15pm UK time todayand will be shown live on TNT Sport, Bears director of rugby Pat Lam, pictured inset, made dramatic changes to the side that beat Lyon.

Fijian international Kalaveti Ravouvou will make his first Bears start after his citing complaint was dismissed on Wednesday and is named on the wing.

Sam Worsley and Joe Owen both make their debuts in the competition. Fly-half Worsley starts in the number ten shirt, while Owen is named in the back row alongside captain Jake Heenan and Magnus Bradbury.

Sam Wolstenholme starts at scrum half with James Williams partnering experienced centurion Piers O’Conor in midfield, while in the back three, Rich Lane shifts to full back with Ravouvou and the returning Noah Heward on the wings.

In the pack, Max Lahiff switches to loosehead with George Kloska at tighthead and Gabriel Oghre named at hooker. Ed Holmes joins Josh Caulfield in the engine room, while on the bench, Steven Longwell could make his debut for the club.

Speaking before yesterday’s team announcement, Lam indicated he was set to rotate his squad for the game in the amphitheatre-style

Stade Chaban Delmas. The win over Lyon at Ashton Gate last weekend provided Lam with some options as he is approaching today’s game with an eye on a crucial trip to Newcastle Falcons on Friday back in the Gallagher Premiership.

With the Bears eighth in the Premiership table, Lam has labelled the trip to Kingston Park to take on bottom side Newcastle as a ‘must-win’’.

Speaking during his midweek press conference, Lam said: “We don’t get back until Sunday night and then we play Newcastle in six days time (from the game), so managing these next two games is key. This game is big, Newcastle is even bigger because of where we are in the league. So it is a case of managing the squad in terms of where everyone is.”

Due to the distance to Newcastle, Lam outlined how two of the six days between the matches will be consumed by travel, leaving him very little training time. He continued: “Our goal in this tournament is to get through to the last 16, we have got five points already, which means we need a win from the next three games. When you look at the Premiership (it is clear) we have to win the Newcastle game. All of that comes into play with the squads we select.

“We didn’t finalise the squad until this week but the reality is because of the World Cup everything has been squeezed in. All of that comes into the mix to make sure we have got a squad that can get the job done in Bordeaux and then a team to get the job done in Bordeaux.”

Bordeaux are familiar foes in Europe, with the Bears beating them in in the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup in 2019/20, on their way to lifting the trophy, before crashing out of the Champions Cup in the last 16 the following year at the very ground they are visiting today, going down 36-17.

Lam reflected: “They are a tough team with quality players, they have a huge pack and are hard to beat over there. It is important you go with the right game plan, but they are stronger now than when they faced them before. Damian Penaud is there now, Matthieu Jalibert - due to injury to Romain Ntamack became France’s starting fly-half at the World Cup, so there is some real quality.”

Bristol Bears: 15. Rich Lane (27 apps), 14. Noah Heward (10 apps), 13. Piers O’Conor (128 apps), 12. James Williams (28 apps), 11. Kalaveti Ravouvou (3 apps),

10. Sam Worsley (5 apps), 9. Sam Wolstenholme (3 apps);

1. Max Lahiff (74 apps), 2. Gabriel Oghre (5 apps), 3. George Kloska (38 apps), 4. Ed Holmes (100 apps), 5.

Josh Caulfield (13 apps), 6. Joe Owen (5 apps), 7. Jake Heenan (c) (101 apps), 8. Magnus Bradbury (31 apps). Replacements: 16. Will Capon (80 apps), 17. Sam Grahamslaw (3 apps), 18. Steven Longwell (debut), 19. James Dun (24 apps), 20. Paddy Pearce (4 apps), 21.

Oscar Lennon (8 apps), 22. Joe Jenkins (10 apps), 22. Jack Bates (35 apps).

Bordeaux Begles: 15. Romain Buros, 14. Damian Penaud, 13. Yoram Moefana, 12. Ben Tapuai, 11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10. Matthieu Jalibert, 9. Maxime Lucu,

1. Jefferson Poirot, 2. Maxime Lamothe, 3. Carlü Sadie,

4. Guido Petti, 5. Thomas Jolmes, 6. Bastien Vergnes, 7. Mahamadou Diaby, 8. Pete Samu

Replacements: 16. Clément Maynadier, 17. Ugo Boniface, 18. Sipili Falatea, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Marko Gazzotti, 21. Antoine Miquel, 22. Théo Nanette, 23. Pablo Uberti