If you want to be the best club in England and Europe you have to have the highest standards in the Premiership and Champions Cup. That was the message from Bristol Bears fly-half Callum Sheedy.
The Welsh international does not want a couple of stunning interception tries in the first half, finished by Piers O’Conor and Siva Naulago, to paper over the cracks in Bristol’s performance in the 34-34 draw away at London Irish with the set piece shaky and the Exiles’ backrow, led by Blair Cowan, causing carnage at the breakdown.
Indiscipline also cost the Bears, escaping punishment during Sam Bedlow’s first half yellow card for a tip tackle which on another day could have been red, but then conceding two tries when Mitch Eadie needlessly picked up a harsh yellow card after the break for an off the ball block on Nick Phipps.
It was not the impact Eadie was looking to make on his first start this season in place of the injured Nathan Hughes.
Despite not being at their best two purple patches in the first half saw the Bears score four tries to go 31-6 up in the 36th minute only to relinquish their 25 point lead after the break, and but for a drop passed with the final play of the game the Exiles really should have won the match as the tortoise came within inches of over taking the explosive hare.
Pitchside Sheedy confessed the draw felt like a defeat, despite the Bears staying top of the Gallagher Premiership.
Sheedy said: “Coming off the pitch we just felt like we weren’t ourselves today.
“We probably haven’t been ourselves for two, three, four weeks.
“We had a great week in terms of being brutally honest with each other. In the first half we were 31-6 up but we were pretty average there, we weren’t great. We had three tries gifted to us.
“Fair play to London Irish they stuck at it and attacked really well but we need to take a serious look at ourselves, because if we want to be the side we say we are going to be then we need to make a few changes.”
While Sheedy certainly wasn’t pointing fingers at Charles Piutau or Siva Naulago, who between them made 358m in attack and set up and scored two tries, the fly-half said the Bears need to become more functional collectively to achieve the success they long for rather than play as individuals.
He said: “Pat always says the system is the solution, we can’t think we are going to solve things on our own.
“Probably at times today it felt like boys were trying to do their own thing and that is not the Bristol Bears way.”
The Bears look set to be without Sheedy this coming weekend when Leicester Tigers come to Ashton Gate on Saturday, with the 25-year-old in line to feature against England in Round Three of the Guinness Six Nations.
That will put Ioan Lloyd back in the hot seat at fly-half looking to put together a controlled performance to break down the increasingly functional side former Bristol coach Steve Borthwick is putting together now he is head coach at Tigers.
