Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Lam insists Vui’s staying with Bears
Ashton Gate director of rugby addresses rumours about lock’s future at the club
PAT Lam admitted Bristol Bears are missing the impact of star Samoan lock Chris Vui who continues to be unavailable to the club due to a private family matter.
The Bears director of rugby has revealed very little detail about why the international forward, who is a first-choice selection for both his country and club at either blindside or in the second, has been absent since the start of the season after he left Samoa’s World Cup camp early. And in many ways rightly so. There are, after all, much more important things in life than rugby.
But Lam was quick to shoot down growing rumours on social media that Vui, pictured inset, is looking for a way to exit his lucrative contract with the Bears early.
Speaking to our sister website Bristol Live, addressing the now weekly questions about Vui’s availability, Lam said: “He’s still unavailable. We certainly miss Chris, he’s a big player for us, as we know, and has been for many years. He’s literally our biggest player as well (at a highly mobile 119kg), so we’re missing his impact in that area as well. But at the moment he’s still unavailable.”
In his absence, Joe Batley, summer signing Josh Caulfield, Ed Holmes and James Dun have been shouldering the work load in the engine room.
Asked whether the rumours around Vui’s future at the club should be listened to, or ignored, Lam said: “100 percent ignored.”
Vui, who joined Bristol from Worcester Warriors in 2017, the same summer that Lam arrived as director of rugby from Connacht, is understood to be one of the highest earners at the Bears. He signed a four-year contract extension at the Premiership side in 2022 in a deal that was celebrated as a recruitment and retention victory for the club with global interest in his services, keeping the 30-year-old at Ashton Gate until at least 2026.
As well as Vui’s outstanding athleticism and offloading ability, Lam has also acknowledged his leadership role within the club having become the youngest captain in World Rugby when he skippered Samoa in 2017. He earned his 28th international cap at the 2023 Rugby World Cup out in France.