Pat Lam expects ‘a lot of upsets’ in the Premiership

Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam expects the 2021/22 Premiership season to produce a number of ‘upsets’.

The West Country outfit began their campaign with a disappointing 26-9 defeat to newly-promoted Saracens.

Although it was hardly a shock result, with the Londoners returning to the top-flight following their relegation for salary cap indiscretions, it was still a poor opening from the Bears.

The visitors were without their Lions stars and a few other first choice players, but they announced their Premiership return in emphatic fashion, scoring 17 unanswered second-half points at Ashton Gate.

Less than 24 hours later, revitalised Leicester comfortably saw off 2020 champions Exeter, while new-look Worcester eased past London Irish in bonus-point fashion.

One of the toughest competitions

“Without a doubt, it is one of the toughest competitions,” Lam said.

“We had a proper pre-season this year, and with Saracens coming back in, it is probably, I would say, one of the toughest ever, which is great.

“This is a season that there will be a lot of upsets, I would say.”

Bristol, Premiership semi-finalists in each of the last two seasons, head to Wasps on Saturday.

Wasps sat out the opening weekend, and they look set to be major contenders, especially with former England assistant coach John Mitchell now part of Lee Blackett’s support team.

Lam added: “They have got new training facilities, which makes a big difference, and they have got an experienced coach in John Mitchell to boost their coaching group, so there is a lot of reason to be positive.

“We are under no illusion how tough it is. We haven’t won there (Wasps’ Coventry base) in the Premiership.

“The competition is all about getting points. We got none last week, and now we go this week to try and get five.

“We lost in round one last year and we bounced back, and we plan on doing that again. There is a long way to go.”

Sara Cox to make history in Premiership this weekend

Meanwhile, history will be made this weekend as match official Sara Cox will become the first woman to referee a Premiership game.

Cox became the first female referee to be centrally contracted by the Rugby Football Union in 2016, and last year she was the first female assistant referee in English rugby’s top tier.

She will break new ground this weekend when she becomes the first woman to take charge of a Premiership league game.

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