By Ben Thorne
Pat Lam expressed his admiration for the success that Saracens have had in recent times, ahead of their match with Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate. The Bears Director of Rugby has not beaten Mark McCall’s side since August 2020, when a late penalty try took the spoils.
Since then, Saracens have defeated Bristol six times, building a legacy as one of the best English teams of all time. Lam said: “they’ve got experience, with a lot of high quality international players but they have history as well which is what we are trying to create here.”
Although early in the season, the game sees the top two teams in the Gallagher Premiership face off against each other, with Bristol leapfrogging Saracens last weekend.
Even after their remarkable comeback against Exeter Chiefs, Lam said that Saracens are the ultimate test that his side have been preparing for since their disappointing 41-20 loss against them last time out.
“What they do is test you as individuals and then as a team, so if we are not able to bring the best version us then the same result is going to happen.
“We had a great run at the back end of last year and when we played them we probably did not bring the best version of ourselves.
“But we have spoken about that, if we don’t front up and bring ‘the Bears’, then we will come out second best.”
Looking at the Saracens squad, Lam mentioned Maro Itoje and Jamie George as players who his team should be wary of as an example of the strength in depth that his opponents have.
The Bears boss also noted the fact that a large group of the senior Saracens squad have played together for a long time, adding another reason as to why they are such a tough outfit to play against.
Bristol’s brilliant form at the start of this season has seen them pick up 17 points from their opening four games.
Reflecting on how his team has started this campaign, Lam said: “I’m really pleased with how we have performed so far and would like to highlight the work that everyone has put in, but now we are just back to what we normally do.
“We just look towards the next game and the next challenge, which this week is Saracens who are obviously a wonderful side, but after losing last week they’ll come fully loaded like Exeter did.
“I always find that that it is a bigger challenge when teams come in desperately wanting a win but if we manage to meet that challenge and win, it’ll certainly be a highlight of our season.”
Bristol Bears will kick off against Saracens on Saturday, October 19 (3:05).
