Lam upbeat ahead of semis, though not yet satisfied

Bristol Bears have put some electric performances together under boss Pat Lam, their efforts earning them a semi-final berth in this season’s Premiership – the furthest the club has ever gone.

While their opponents will be determined on Wednesday evening, Lam is looking forward to the challenge.

“I’m really proud that we’re in the play-off semi-finals,” he said. “A lot of hard work has gone in over the years to get the club to be in this position. But I’m not satisfied – I don’t want to be known as a team that got to the semi-final, it just gives you the opportunity to now go for the final and obviously the ultimate prize of being champions.

“Every day I come into the High-Performance Centre and as we say good morning to each other, and I observe and I look, I’m just so thankful that we’ve got good people – we’ve got good staff, good players and we’ve got a good family. It doesn’t earn you the right, it doesn’t give you automatic opportunities to be in these finals and it doesn’t give you silverware, but it gives you the best chance possible.

“I’m particularly pleased for our fans and supporters, because I know the history, I know they’ve been waiting for these moments to come and I know they are extremely happy and I’m proud that we can all make them happy. The big thing I’ve always said is that finals are about celebration – it’s celebrating who you are, it’s celebrating the work that you do.

“Getting out there, whoever gets selected in these games, they represent everybody in Bristol Bears, but their job is to have no fear and celebrate and enjoy finals rugby and be true to who we are.”