So perhaps this week we won’t dwell too long on the 68-13 Premiership Cup defeat at Worcester. A young side got well and truly beaten at Sixways. A first-half red card did not help matters, but by then our cubs where already five tries behind.
Take the learnings, chin up and look forward to next week’s league action, as this cup campaign takes a four-month break before we lock horns with Bath and Gloucester at Ashton Gate in March.
This week I want to reflect more on the news that AJ MacGinty, an experienced fly half, will be swapping the dark satanic mills of the north for the cider orchards of the Westcountry.
With the departure of Max Malins at the end of last season it is fair to say we have lacked depth at the 10 slot. Callum Sheedy our sole Premiership-hardened fly half has had little real competition.
Ioan Lloyd our utility man has had few chances to develop playing at 10, more often popping up on the wing or at full back. Tiff Eden had a couple of auditions last season but failed to impress and didn’t get a call back.
Centre Sam Bedlow has filled in when required but is not a long-term solution to fill the role. And young Tom Wilstead and Jac Lloyd are untested prospects for the future, but not an answer for the next couple of seasons.
So AJ reuniting with Pat Lam after a previous association in Connacht seems good business. Anyone who monitored the reaction of Sale fans when the news broke will see how much he was rated in the north west and how incredulous they were that the club was letting him leave.
The question for Bears fans is whether he’ll be at Ashton Gate as Sheedy’s understudy or to take the starting berth in BS3. Either way we will have two international fly halves that will mean serious competition at that position. That can only be a good thing.
One issue we don’t know is how long does Callum have left on his Bears contract? With the Welsh RFU’s 60-cap rule, at some point he will have to choose between club glory with Bristol or a return to his homeland to pursue his international ambitions.
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