Pat Lam’s tenure at Bristol Bears has largely been a fruitful one but after a 26-26 draw with Leicester Tigers on Saturday his side are bottom of the tree heading into Christmas and with little room for cheer, having not won since September.
Following a hugely successful spell at Connacht where he led the Irish Province to their first major trophy, winning the Pro 12 in 2016, Lam joined Bristol in the summer of 2017.
Lam hit the ground running at the Bears, earning promotion from the Championship in 2018 at the first attempt and a year later the former Samoan international guided Bristol to ninth in the top flight , the highest finish of any newly promoted side in the Premiership era.
The success continued as in 2020 the Bears finished 3rd in the Premiership before recording an historic European success beating Toulon 32-19 in the Challenge Cup final to register Bristol’s first major trophy since 1983.
Lam was rightly lauded for the achievements of his side and in particular the brand of rugby that they were playing and notable signings such as Fijian Semi Radradra and former All Black Charles Piutau helped to propel the Bears to a top of the table finish in 2020/21 and secure a home semi-final against Harlequins.
Bristol raced into a 28-0 lead in that semi-final and looked destined to play in their first ever Premiership final only for Harlequins to come back and stun Pat Lam’s side after extra-time.
Not deterred by the manner in which they lost the semi-final, owner Steve Lansdown gave his full backing to Lam, handing him a seven-year contract extension.
On his decision Lansdown stated, ” What Pat and his team have achieved in a short space of time at Bristol Bears is excellent, but it’s not just the way that the team have performed on the field, it’s the culture and standards he has set to continually drive the organisation forward.”
Since that decision to hand Lam that contract, Bristol have gone backwards, despite huge investment both on and off the field.
In 2021/22 the Bears endured a torrid season, despite many fancying them to win the competition , Bristol stumbled, losing 16 out of 24 matches and finishing 10th in the Gallagher Premiership, out of the Champions Cup places and looking a shadow of the side that stormed to top of the table the season before.
Ellis Genge, Gabriel Ibitoye and Aj Macginty were some star names brought into Ashton Gate in the summer of 2022 to help restore Bristol to the top of the table but despite a promising start, winning their first three games the Bears are now languishing at the bottom of the Gallagher Premiership.
The Bears are on a wretched run, having not won a game now for over 2 months but more than just the results it’s the way that they have been playing that is beginning to cause concern.
Pete Brealey from the fans podcast Bears Beyond the Gate expressed his worry on the Bears in an article for Bristol Live, writing, “Clarity is a word that has been used by the coaching staff on numerous occasions but it seems to me that this is exactly what we appear to be lacking, both in terms of a game plan and when it comes to making individual decisions at key moments.”
The picture is bleak and whilst Lam has plenty of credit in the bank the fact that fans are as troubled as they are demonstrates where Bristol are at.
It is worth noting that Bristol have had plenty of injuries as well as international duty to contend with, a point Lam has been keen to note , notably after defeat to Saracens.
Lam said that evening, “It is important to remember the experience of the group we’ve got out at the moment. Suddenly you have Genge, Sinckler , Luatua, Vui, Radradra, all of these boys are missing at the moment and it’s experience that you need when you play these neck and neck games.”
Those players, except Sinckler all returned in the draw against Leicester and keeping those players fit and available will be a key factor if Pat Lam’s side are able to claw their way up the table.
However, if the poor form does continue especially if Bristol are at full strength it will be interesting to see if Lam will continue to be backed .
