News about Pat Lam

MARK STEVENS AT ASHTON GATE: In a clash between the Premiership's heavyweights, it was Alex Lozowski who delivered the knockout blow at Ashton Gate. With the clock deep into the red, the Saracens centre landed the match-winning penalty that ended the brave resistance of the Bears and put his side top of the table. Lozowski sealed a superb fightback by Sarries, who trailed by 15 points early in the second half.

EXCLUSIVE BY ALEX BYWATER: At the end of 2023, Pat Lam's circus of great entertainers briefly left Bristol. Now, the show has returned with a bang. After a short identity crisis, the Bears have rediscovered themselves on and off the field to lead the way going into the fifth round of Premiership fixtures.

Ellis Genge plans on starting the new season fitter than ever after the England star became the first player to trial NFL boots in rugby. Genge missed his country's win over Japan and 2-0 Test series defeat by New Zealand this summer after suffering a calf injury on club duty with Bristol in May. The prop is continuing his fitness recovery and hopes to be able to start the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership campaign when it begins next month.

ALEX BYWATER: Bristol Bears will play a slated home Gallagher Premiership fixture at Cardiff's Principality Stadium next May in a move which has shocked Wales' four regions and could well antagonise the country's loyal fans. Mail Sport revealed in July last year that the Ashton Gate outfit had been in advanced negotiations about taking a match over the border in a move designed to try and grow the team's popularity.  While plans for Bristol to do so in the season just finished did not materialise - partly due to anger in the Welsh game - they will now do so in the 2024/25 campaign.

ALEX BYWATER: Gabriel Ibitoye has been backed to bring the maverick wing play he delivers for Bristol to Steve Borthwick's new-look England set-up this summer. The lightening quick 26-year-old, who has clocked 10 metres per second on the field this season in terms of speed, has stood out for the Bears despite them narrowly missing out on a Premiership play-off place.

ALEX BYWATER AT TWICKENHAM STOOP: Genge (pictured) is a vital figure for national head coach Steve Borthwick and an undisputed first-choice at loosehead prop when fit. He has also led his country and been vice captain under Borthwick. The 29-year-old was forced off in the first half of his team's hammering of Harlequins. The victory would have been enough for the Bears to make the semi-finals but they were undone by Sale's win at Saracens.

INTERVIEW BY CHRIS FOY: Mullet wigs are likely to be sighted at Welford Road today, as further proof of how Benhard Janse van Rensburg has become the cult idol of Bristol's thunderous charge towards the Premiership play-offs. Last Sunday, the South African centre posed for pictures with a group of supporters who had turned up to Ashton Gate wearing fake versions of his trademark haircut - to watch the Bears demolish Newcastle 85-14. The man they call 'BV' scored two of the hosts' 13 tries and added a touchline conversion for good measure, to maintain his remarkable first-season impact in the West Country. This is a serious talent with a fun look. Young Bristol fans are growing their hair in tribute to him. A social media account about mullets regularly posts about him. Janse van Rensburg realises that he can't turn back now - a personal brand is established.

CHRIS FOY – WORLD OF RUGBY: How sad it is to learn that another of the mighty has fallen. Phil Vickery has been declared bankrupt, causing the former England captain and World Cup winner to withdraw from several enterprises. The 'Raging Bull' is expected to owe nearly £100,000 to Vix Ltd, his management company, which has gone into liquidation. Following the announcement that the 2011 Celebrity Masterchef winner's No. 3 restaurants had been ordered to close earlier this year due to the cost-of-living crisis that has wreaked havoc on the hospitality industry, there were also allegations of unpaid tax bills. Vickery, 48, seems to be suffering with his health issues as well as his financial problems. The great prop idol had joined the group litigation against various rugby governing bodies late last year, on behalf of ex-players who were still recovering from the after-effects of repeated head injuries.

Scotland has been warned that they will face a tense Welsh atmosphere if they try to bring an end to their Cardiff hoodoo in the first round of the 2024 Six Nations on Saturday. Jonathan Humphreys, a former Wales hooker and assistant coach, knows what it's like to be in both the home and away camps at Principality Stadium. His verdict? Daunting to say the least. Humphreys worked with Scotland's forwards between 2013 and 2017, and in that period, they experienced defeat at the home of Welsh rugby all too often.

MARK STEVENS IN ASHTON GATE: The Bristol Bears are known as one of the game's 'great entertainers,' and Pat Lam's showmen demonstrated the star power in a thrilling derby. The Bears did not fail to step out in a 102-point show-stopper to keep alive their hopes of a play-off position in this season's Premiership and deny near neighbors Bath's hopes. It was a match in which flanker Steven Luatua made history by becoming the first player in a Premiership game to be evicted. However, there was nothing the Samoan flanker said on TNT's Player Mic during 80 spellbinding minutes that gave the game a new sense of excitement in a stunning match featuring 14 tries.

MailSport announced in December that while the Premiership's main league broadcaster TNT Sports, with the help of the league, intend to bring fans closer to action, but it hasn't been used in rugby, particularly because of the game's physical characteristics, which makes it impossible for them to talk to TV commentators, pundits, or presenters while playing.

'Now close your eyes,' says Pat Lam. As if we were holding a high-five in place, we're hand-to-hand around the table. When he inevitably moves his hand, it is to stay in touch. The rugby director of Bristol is demonstrating an activity with his players. The aim is to make them pay full attention by not being able to see, so there are no distractions outside of the classroom. When it duly works, it's 'Easy,' he says. 'See what happened there?There are so many distractions when your eyes are open. If you close your eyes, you will really concentrate on what you need to do. To the guys, I say, "Close your eyes and think of the first person who comes into your head; the one who loves and believes in you." When you think of someone, tell me how you feel.

CHRIS FOY: Sound the alarm: the game is in danger. Rugby will be gone as a mass-market sport if the Six Nations and World Cup disappear from free-to-air television, never to return. It's so serious. Many that monitor the sport's future may choose to wrap it in an invisible cloak, resulting in the looming fight for a few extra bucks. Madness is a symptom of insanity. Madness in the United States. Just because the government will not include the Six Nations and the global showpiece in their list of 'crown jewel' sporting activities, doesn't mean the powers-that-be must turn the lights out themselves. Even in association with ITV, the BBC admits they will not be able to afford to pay top price for Six Nations broadcast rights until the new agreement expires after the 2025 tournament, and that they are concerned about losing their World Cup rights. In 2015, the two competitors banded together to guarantee that the Six Nations maintained free-to-air status, but it will be difficult to do so again.

Sale is set for another double Curry night against Bristol at Ashton Gate, knowing that a victory would put them on the verge of winning a home Premiership semi-final. Tom Curry has recovered from a hamstring injury and will team up with twin brother Ben and fellow England flanker Ben in the visitors' rejigged back row against the Bears in the West Country. Alex Sanderson's side will enjoy a supreme breakdown as they look to reclaim their second position in the league table against revitalized champions Leicester and London Irish.

Kyle Sinckler will return to action on Sunday for the first time since England's fateful fall campaign. Since losing to South Africa at Twickenham in November, the prop has been sidelined with a groin injury. Sinckler has recovered in time to play in the Premiership match against London Irish coach Pat Lam.

ALEX BYWATER AT ASHTON GATE: Ellis Genge's face at the final whistle in Bristol on Friday night was unashamed, according to his rugby director Pat Lam, who admitted that Exeter's seven-try humiliatal was completely intolerable. On the first day of the season, Genge's return to Ashton Gate from Leicester started in fairytale fashion, but it became more of a nightmare when the England prop was yellow carded and fined twice by referee Christophe Ridley for backchat. Genge's sinbinning was a crucial piece. It enabled Exeter to score 14 points and Bristol imploded from there on what was a chastening evening for Lam and his players.

Ellis Genge's return to Bristol began and ended with a bang as the England prop's incredible brace led the Bears to a dramatic 31-29 victory over bitter rivals Bath. This Ashton Gate match, which had been postponed from Friday night after the late Queen Elizabeth II's death, was worth watching. Genge and his Bears took the championship at the death, and they did not win it at the end. Genge captained Leicester to last season's Premiership and scored with his first touch back in a Bristol shirt to start an enthralling match.