Lam has got work to do to get Bears on even keel
PAT Lam is set to really earn his wages in the coming weeks as he has the difficult job of picking up the pieces and putting Bristol Bears back together after they were hammered by Harlequins on Friday night.
Back in June, Harlequins did the seemingly impossible and came from 28-0 down to beat Bristol 45-36 after extra-time in the Premiership semi-final at Ashton Gate.
Quins then went on to lift the trophy, beating Exeter Chiefs 40-38 in an equally remarkable game.
Most outside observers agree the Bears are yet to heal the wounds of that defeat and attribute last season’s table-toppers starting the 2021/22 season so poorly, beating just Bath while now losing three times, to the damage caused that June day.
Lam has long since insisted his side have moved on, but even the language he uses to describe the defeat appears telling, using the analogy of grieving a death.
The problem with that analogy is, as anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one will sadly know, you never stop feeling the loss, the pain just gets smaller over time.
Certainly on the evidence of Friday night’s dramatic collapse to Harlequins again, this time going from 21-0 up to lose 52-24, 111 days does not seem to have been long enough for the Bears to right the ship.
The string of poor results means Bristol have sunk to 12th in the table and now Lam has a hell of a job on his hands, plugging the holes to inflate their league position in the coming weeks.
The seemingly rising tide of doubt among the team while they are under pressure on the field is not helped by four of Lam’s key men being either absent or off their game.
Fly-half Callum Sheedy, dubbed the coach on the field by Lam, is one man struggling for his best form, having stopped being the running threat that saw him burst onto the international scene.
Instead, Sheedy shipped the ball wide time after time with little or no variation against Quins, making 41 passes and just six runs, to finish with a measly grand total of two metres made with the ball in hand.
In contrast, his opposite number Marcus Smith made 16 passes and eight runs for 32m, having come off the bench late in the first half.
Two of the club’s other key leaders, John Afoa and Steven Luatua, both missed the game through injury.
Afoa could be back from an eye socket fracture this coming weekend, while fellow former All Black Luatua was considered touch and go with a calf injury on Friday, failing a late fitness test, so could also be back in the mix away at Newcastle.
Number eight Nathan Hughes, the battering ram in this Bristol pack when at his best, is also off the pace having started the season poorly.
He was dropped for the derby win over Bath and the trip to Quins only to be promoted to the bench when Luatua withdrew. Hughes did look motivated when he joined the action on Friday, however.
Add into the mix the absence of Semi Radradra (knee), Siva Naulago (arm) and Luke Morahan and you have the perfect storm. Key players out of form, leaders missing, and a lack of attacking options.