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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
Gregor MacGregor

Pat Lam to coach Barbarians again with several Bristol Bears called up

Bristol Bears' head coach Pat Lam has been announced as taking charge of the Barbarians once more.

The former Connacht boss will take the reins when the invitational side face an England XV in the Quilter Cup match on Sunday, 2 June.

Last year the 50-year-old coach led the Baa-baas to a record-breaking 63-45 win at Twickenham, as Chris Ashton scored a hat-trick for the team who have been playing for more than 125 years.

Lam will be joined by several members of his coaching staff and players from Ashton Gate.

Bristol Bears head coach Pat Lam gives his post match talk (Alex James/JMP)

New Zealand forwards Steven Luatua and John Afoa will pull on the famous black and white shirt once more and they will be joined by Samoa captain Chris Vui who is in line to make his first appearance for the Barbarians.

Bristol’s forwards coach Jonathan Thomas, backs coach Conor McPhillips and performance analyst Stuart Powell will all be part of Lam's coaching set-up for the game, along with Connacht manager Tim Allnutt.

“Last year was amazing, it was a huge privilege to be asked to coach having played for the club in the past and to be asked to come back and do it all again is a great honour," said Lam on the official Bristol Bears website.

“We prepared really well and on the day it all came together. If you get everyone on the same page, then it gives people the chance to really express their amazing talents.

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"We got the balance right between bonding as a group and the getting the training content across," he said.

New Zealand centre Malakai Fekitoa, Wales scrum half Rhys Webb and Fijian wing Filipo Nakosi have all been confirmed to play in the fixture too.

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