Bristol Bears coach Pat Lam was full of praise for his “inexperienced” side despite throwing away a 15-point lead to Gallagher Premiership leaders Saracens on Saturday.
Lam claimed his captain, Fitz Harding, who scored a hat-trick on the day, was first to stand up proud in the changing room after the game.
“I think a really good comment was made in the changing from by Fitzy. He said look around the room, there’s a lot of young faces in here, a lot of guys getting experience.
“The way that we played with a lot of starters missing was huge and it’s great for player development and it was a good effort with some good rugby. Ultimately we know we missed out on a lot of points out there, a lot of missed tries.”
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Lam was clear that his side were apologetically regretting how the game panned out, especially kicker AJ MacGinty who was not his accurate self on the day.
“We have those moments where our system works but we lose the kick offs twice and that has a huge effect on the game. The players were disappointed. AJ, who works as hard as anyone, was the first to stand up and apologise, but it wasn’t his fault as far as his goal-kicking goes.
“It’s the same with all the boys, they all put their hands up saying they stuffed up or they should have passed when they didn’t, I should have caught that, I shouldn’t have given this penalty away. When they acknowledge this, as a coach, that’s pleasing, because they’ll get to go away and work on these things, and then, hopefully, learn from the experience and what they should have done differently.”
Considering the heartbreak from the loss, Lam was seemingly an excited man and was hopeful with the newfound quality in the centre of the backs with young players Jack Bates and Joe Jenkins.
“Look at the group that was sitting behind the stands in there, there are some quality players here. This is a great experience with the two centres who are 20 and 23 years old, you know? And they did some great stuff. There are some great things there.
“Positive things always happen off the back of the rugby that we produced in our Bear system and our Bears ways. A lot of guys have commented, and particularly Saracens boys have commented on how they admired the way that we play.”
Lam was also very understanding in his view around the controversial penalty his side conceded in the 83rd minute when Saracens were awarded a kick after the clock had already gone into the red, which was converted by centre Alex Lozowski to secure a dramatic 37-35 win for Saracens.
“I know that sometimes it is given, sometimes it is not. We’ve had it done to ourselves. I think everyone can do the exact same thing and find a penalty that’s given one week and not the next. That’s just what happened, and we have to live with that.”
The Bears coach was full of praise for Saracens’ star man Lozowski after being out with injury recently, who has been a problem for opposing sides so far this season.
“He’s an unbelievable kicker when we play him, every time. Alex is great. I sent him a message. It was good to see him back in the Saracens and the England set-up.
“I love any story about resilience, where guys get knocked down through injury or for whatever reason, they bounce back. So I think, hopefully, he gets kept again. It’s a great story for him. But he has been a thorn in our side with his kicking.”
Lam will now look forward to his next Gallagher Premiership game away against Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens this Friday.