Bristol Bears loosehead prop, Jake Woolmore, is excited ahead of his sides clash with Harlequins this weekend, expecting both sides to play a “flamboyant” style of rugby.
The game will mark Bristol’s return to Premiership action, after their 31-23 victory over Northampton Saints, in late October, before a fairly successful Prem Rugby Cup campaign the following month, beating Bedford Blues and Ampthill while losing to rivals Bath.
In West London it was a similar story, with Quins also winning two of their three games in the Prem Cup, however they now look ahead to hosting a Bears team that have not lost away from home, in the league, in over a year.
Woolmore said: “We want to play a really good brand of rugby and that, in addition to going up against the threats that Quins have, means that we should have a top tier game on Friday night.”
Bill Mata is a player looking to help the West Country side build on their good form and seems destined for his Bristol debut on Friday evening, after his switch from Edinburgh ahead of this season.
The utility loose forward, who can play in the row, on the flank or at number 8, is six foot five and weighs 123 kilograms, so will add some size to the Bears pack.
Considering the thought of being joined by the Fijian on the pitch, Woolmore said: “It is great to have him in the squad and I think it is probably a good time for him to come back in, after this kind of break that we have had.
“Some of the things that he is doing in training are more than impressive, his footwork for someone that size is unreal, so the prospect of playing with him is exciting for sure.”
The eye catching style of rugby that both sides play makes the match an intriguing one, yet the front row forward stressed that the free flowing game that the Bears play is not an accident.
He said: “We put a lot of focus on our defence and set piece to allow us to play in the way that we want and if we can do that then we allow us to put ourselves onto the front foot and hopefully stop Harlequins playing their way.
“Everyone thinks that everything we do is just off the cuff when in reality we put a lot of time and effort into training, so that everyone is in the right place and reliable.”
The loosehead also emphasised the need for everyone in the squad to accept and support the way that they want to play for the greater good of the team.
As a part of the Bears engine room, Woolmore thinks that his role is more than scrummaging, lifting lineouts and hitting rucks in the Bristol system, with a requirement to contribute and participate in open play.
“Obviously as a front five we have our areas that we need to focus on and develop – namely set-piece – but we try not to hide out on the pitch, we want to play as much as we can, whilst also maintaining those other parts of our game,” he said.
Another key talking point ahead of Friday night’s match is the magnificent performance that Pat Lam’s side put out in on the final game of last season, winning 53-28 away at Twickenham Stoop.
Woolmore replaced Ellis Genge in the second half that afternoon and was one of the leaders in the playing squad keen to bring their momentum from the backend of last season into this term.
He said: “As we entered preseason we tried to copy and paste the training that we had been doing previously and our whole theme was ensuring that we focused on rugby.
“I think that so far our work in the off season is showing and you can see that from the way that we are trying to play the game.”
Jake Woolmore and Bill Mata will both be in action as Bristol Bears take on Harlequins on Friday evening with kick off at 7:45pm.
