Lam eyeing team performance at Sixways

A youthful Bears side were well beaten by a full-strength Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium last weekend, but the Director of Rugby was encouraged by the performances of some of his young guns.

Devil in the detail

“It was a really big performance for us as far as growth goes. When I saw how the young fellas came in on Saturday and stepped up, they were pretty direct, they got up and they made some big tackles and that’s fantastic. That’s a learning we can take, but in that game on Saturday, the lesson is that if you don’t get your detail right, you’ll struggle.

“The games are coming thick and fast and part of the planning is just game to game. The challenge that we face, which is a little bit tougher but makes it more exciting, is that we’ve got Worcester, then four days later we play Northampton, then Wasps on the Sunday and then only a five-day turnaround to our quarter final because Europe put us on a Friday. So, we’ve got to manage quite a few games.

'Tracking nicely'

“The main thing is, there are five points available again this week against Worcester on Friday night – and last time we went to Worcester, which was October 2018, we certainly got spanked well and truly after only six games back in the Premiership.

“Our main goal is to be in the top six – that’s positions one to six - and we’re tracking nicely. You face a different challenge every week and there’s more points on offer this week.”

Despite the busy schedule, Lam says the Bears have a relatively clean bill of health heading into round 18.

“The main thing is there are no major injuries, we’ve just had guys, like other teams, with bumps and bruises and niggles. Thankfully, we haven’t had anything major over the four games we’ve had – when I say major, I mean more than three or four weeks away.”