Pat Lam doesn’t give praise lightly, so when he does you sit up and play attention.
Speaking in midweek the Bristol Bears director of rugby was practically gushing when asked his opinion about rugby league convert Siva Naulago as he and his coaching team look to have unearthed another absolute diamond.
Not that Naulago’s abilities were a secret to anyone who has seen him ripping up the Super League for the past couple of seasons, but Lam’s delight stems from the fact the Fijian winger is getting better with every passing day.
That was evident in the 34-34 draw with London Irish where Naulago made a staggering 197m in attack from just eight carries, making six clean breaks on his way to scoring a brace of tries.
At times he looked undefendable.
Lam said from his very first meeting with Naulago, 29, he knew he would fit in at the table topping club. He said: “We have been really pleased with him.
“When I met with him obviously he is a British soldier and jeez he is impressive.
“I am not talking about rugby, I am talking off the field. I met with him and his wife and he was keen to come to us.
“He is just such an impressive guy and he has been on the front line.
“You just see his discipline, naturally from a serviceman.
“He loves the game, he loves the guys around here. He has become very popular here and he just wants to do so well for himself, his mates and the Bears and he is so hungry to get better, which is a great asset.”
After making his Premiership debut in December against Harlequins, scoring a try on New Year’s day in the victory over Newcastle Falcons, Naulago was removed from action for a couple of weeks for what at the time was described as ‘reconditioning.’
Lam has now divulged that was not so much a physical process but a mental one.
The Bears boss said: “He hasn't had a pre-season, he did the whole Super League season, the last week he finished for Hull he was in here the same week training with us and learning the Bears way.
“He got in there and showed glimpses of what he can do but after the Sale game we realised there is still work he needs to do.
“Myself and Conor McPhillips [assistant coach] we went through it with him on the big screen and what we found is where he was going positionally defensively and in attack his work rate was phenomenal, but he is just in the wrong place.
“But we went through it all and you could just see it click for him, ‘I can see it.’ he said.
“Then we put him out at the weekend and talk about coachable - he did everything we asked.
“The improvement was phenomenal, more because we had asked those questions and he is extremely coachable and he picked it up fast.”
In a glimpse of the mindset which is seeing Naulago excel for the Bears, named on the wing again this weekend to face Leicester Tigers, speaking on Wednesday, Lam said: “Today is a down day and I saw him down in the gym doing some extra work.
“When he broke away on that intercept against London Irish he was just cruising when there were some quick guys chasing him.
“He is a real asset for us and I am pleased to have him.”
Despite playing just five games this season Naulago finds himself 11th in the league for metres made in attack with 411, with team mate Charles Piutau, Piers O’Conor and Henry Purdy amongst those in front of him - for now.
Another performance like London Irish and Naulago will be rocketing up the list.
