Pat Lam, the former 3rd center line of Samoa, has not forgotten December 15, 2018. Six years ago, almost to the day, the Bears of Bristol and the New Zealand manager won at Marcel-Deflandre in Challenge Cup (3-13), a week after being defeated at home by the trio of Jono Gibbes, Grégory Patat and Xavier Garbajosa (22-35). “It was in the rain, I had almost only English players lined up,” the technician laughs. A winning move that his men were unable to reproduce on March 31, beaten in Port-Neuf in the quarter-final (39-15) by Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Uini Atonio, Grégory Alldritt, Ihaia West, Pierre Bourgarit, Thomas Berjon, Levani Botia and others.
“At the start of the week, I asked the players who had already faced La Rochelle to raise their hands, there weren't many,” says Pat Lam. It's a big challenge, the players understand it well, we can't wait to be there. The weather will be good, the pitch too, the stadium will be full, with a good crowd. It's very exciting. Against Leinster (12-35 home defeat, Editor's note), we were very good, physically, in the ground game, in defense. We will need that again, in attack and defense, against a very solid team which has two stars on the jersey. »
On December 15, 2018, Bristol sealed off La Rochelle at home (3-13).
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And this is precisely what is the big difference, according to him, since 2018. The Yellow and Black now rely on experience in the Champions Cup which the Bears, co-leaders of the Premiership with their neighbors Bath, still lack. the Stade has just beaten (20-24): “It’s a challenge that we like, we have a lot of respect for the Rochelais, for Ronan (O’Gara) and what they did and the best way of their to show is to be the best possible. »
“Try to beat them”
“France is the most complicated place to play and when the draw determined that we had to go to La Rochelle and Clermont, there were two ways of looking at it. Some said it was going to be difficult but I thought there would be nothing better for our team, as well as hosting Leinster and playing all these big matches, underlines the Kiwi coach. We can only grow, become stronger thanks to these opportunities. And then, it gives me the chance to see how we react. We did very well last week, even if several elements were against us. Now we have another good opportunity. We've been to La Rochelle before, we know how difficult it is but we appreciate the challenges, we're where we want to be, we can't wait to go there and try to beat them…”
For this, Bristol will undoubtedly rely on its large volume of play. A strategy applied with the Auckland Blues, in New Zealand, then in Connacht, in Ireland, and finally on the banks of the Avon by Pat Lam. “I kept telling them, 'don't be afraid to play'. After Covid, we started to change and stamp our feet a little. But we have come back a little, to play a little like before, with a lot of individual qualities, deciphers the Bears manager. It's not about playing all the time, but about doing it when possible, whether you are 5 meters or 100 meters from the goal. » This did not escape the Maritimes, who will have to tighten the screw on defense.
