Pat Lam questions Fiji's management of Radradra

Bristol Bears head coach Pat Lam has spoken out regarding the injury to his team’s star centre Semi Radradra.

Lam has recently been in talks with Fiji head coach Vern Cotter in connection with injury management concerns.

Radradra was injured while turning out for Fiji during their Autumn Nations Cup fixture against Georgia on December 5^th. After the initial incident, however, Radradra stayed on the pitch, worsening the damage.

Lam believes the better option would have been for Radradra to be taken off instead of allowing him to see out the remainder of the match.

“It was good to get in contact with Vern,” Lam said. “It was never against Fiji Rugby, it was against the process of what happened.

“As I said, if Semi had got a cruciate ligament injury in that game and he was out for the rest of our season, that happens. This was all around things that could have been handled better.

“It would be exactly the same if it had happened in the Wales camp or the England camp with other players. It would be no different.

“Semi won’t be available for this week. We are hoping for the week after, but it’s still touch and go.”

Radradra was absent from Bristol’s Round 1 Champions Cup fixture against Clermont. They could have used his wonderful attacking ability as they crashed to a 51-38 loss against the French outfit. They next face Connacht on Sunday the 20^th.

“The Connacht team is the people’s team, it really is. Although the Sportsground in Galway is a small ground, it was like playing in front of a full Twickenham or Aviva Stadium,” Lam said.