Bristol Bears are looking to set up a dramatic conclusion to the 2020/21 Heineken Champions Cup pool stages fit for the ‘greatest club competition in the world.’
The Bears’ director of rugby Pat Lam balked at the suggestion his side would ever throw the towel in, in the Champions Cup, having worked so hard to get back in Europe’s premier competition for the first time in 12 years.
Sunday’s 27-18 bonus point victory away at his former side Connacht means should Bristol be able to repeat the feat against the Irish province back at Ashton Gate in January, qualification for a place in the quarter-finals for the first time ever would likely come down to the trip to Clermont Auvergne on January 23.
The task of toppling the side which left Bristol ‘gutted’ last weekend after a 51-38, 12 try romp, on their own turf is certainly an almighty challenge; but Munster’s stunning comeback to win 31-39 in the Massif Central on Saturday proves that without the club’s famous frenzied walls of die hard yellow shirted fans they can be beaten at the Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin.
Speaking after the victory in Galway, where Lam saw his side to victory over the club he defied all odds with by leading to the 2015/16 Pro14 title, the Bears boss said:
"I am really pleased, that is our first Champions Cup win in a lot of years and what an effort.
“People asked me would we throw the towel in after defeat last weekend, would we still give it our all?
“It is the best competition in the world, of course we will give it our all.
“We have gone strong and we have got a lot of players coming back in January too.
“All we can control is trying to get four or five points next time out [against Connacht] and then we are still alive the week after that.”
The thought of the Bears heading to France, where they beat Brive, Stade Francais and Toulon on the way to winning the Challenge Cup last season, with the likes of Semi Radradra, Charles Piutau, Luke Morahan and Chris Vui added to their ranks is certainly a prospect to get Bristol fans salivating.
And while Bristol were far from perfect on in Round Two, they are learning from their mistakes having tightened up their leaky defence from eight days ago.
In Galway the sides went in with the Bears 5-3 up at half time which is some contrast to the 14-29 scoreline at the interval last weekend.
Lam said: "We have worked hard this week. We were really gutted with our performance against Clermont, particularly defensively.
"Omar [Mouneimne - defence and collisions coach] did some good work this week with the defence this week, with the collisions and that was superb this week.
"It wasn't perfect but it was a gutsy effort, particularly up front."
