Exclusive: John Afoa on Bristol’s superb season so far

Chris Evans
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After 12 games in the Premiership, Bristol Bears currently reside at the top of the Premiership, while they are also in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, and one of this season’s stars, prop John Afoa, spoke to Planet Rugby about their impressive campaign.

The only real disappointment for Afoa and his team-mates in 2020/21 has been the fans’ inability to properly enjoy the side’s success.

Although the tighthead believes that players have adapted to the situation, there is still an element of frustration that coronavirus has prevented them from truly interacting with the supporters.

The Bears last played with fans in attendance at Ashton Gate on the March 8, 2020, just over 12 months ago, with it becoming the ‘new normal’ for players.

“This may sound horrendous but it’s the norm now. Having no crowd seems so normal and until you watch a game back or you see those close games where the crowd could perhaps have a big effect with the noise (you don’t notice it),” Afoa told Planet Rugby.

“You look at our game against Gloucester where it was a one point score, having played there for four years, you could imagine the crowd going absolutely bonkers with every kick, every long pass, every ref decision.

“I think you miss that emotional high when the whistle goes and the crowd’s going bonkers. It is strange, but it’s strangely turning into the norm.”

Strange times for the Bears and the community

At this stage of the season, the Bears would normally be out and about in the community encouraging youngsters to take up the game in schools, but due to Covid-19 that hasn’t been possible.

“It’s a disadvantage where we feel for our community. Pat’s (Lam) brought this philosophy in and the team’s certainly bought into it. We’re deep set into our community where we want to inspire them through our rugby success, we want to be out doing stuff through our rugby programmes,” Afoa said.

“We want to be out in schools, we want to be out doing other bits and pieces and then at the end of the week, the Bristol locals will come and watch the game.

“Obviously, that’s not meant to be at the moment, which is a bit sad, but we’re working hard to make sure we can still do what we can and give them something to watch and to cheer for over the weekend.”

In the pandemic era, the game has had a different feel to it due to the lack of crowds. Away victories have become more frequent, as have a number of surprising results, including London Irish’s comeback draw against Bristol a few weekends ago.

The Bears also succumbed to a disappointing home defeat to Sale Sharks but responded impressively and are currently clear at the top of the Premiership.

They have a six-point buffer over Exeter Chiefs and Afoa believes that the club’s ability to reset has served them well this season.

“You know what the game’s like, there have been too many times when a team should fly away with it on paper or you think they’re too good, but it just doesn’t work out,” he said. “Again, that’s something we’ve been really good at this year, which is resetting every week, building up to the game really well, making sure we’re covering everything that we need to.

“It has been quite difficult with the Covid tests, the whole instructions around training, not being able to do scrums before the game now due to all the track and trace stuff.

“Everything’s been adjusted but we’ve really taken that on board and just been adaptable, making sure we have a strong mindset going into each game.

“It’s different to maybe two years ago when we were the new team in the Premiership and people were thinking we were trying to survive. Now we’re in a good place in the table and people are trying to get us.”

Pat Lam’s influence

Prior to Pat Lam’s arrival at the club in 2017, optimism was low around Ashton Gate after suffering relegation from the Premiership. The Bears quickly returned to the top flight in 2018/19 and survived before taking a sizable leap in 2019/20 by making the play-offs and winning the Challenge Cup.

Afoa, who is one of the more experienced members of the squad, has enjoyed plenty of success in his career and has helped change the mentality around the Bears.

“I think it’s just about having that experience but also believing it,” he said. “Obviously, I had been at a couple of clubs in New Zealand, been at Ulster in the PRO14 and been at Gloucester for four years, so I had a decent knowledge of how teams operated.

“I had known Pat before and how he likes to run a team, and then I was meeting up with guys I knew from back home, combined it with the local boys and English boys, and then adding it together to create something which fitted the Bears way.

“That’s what we’ve done, there’s no point trying to force anything else on anyone, but we know where we want to get to. That’s the great thing. We let the boys discuss and have input into how the team’s run, and then you get that real buy in.”

With the Bears being bankrolled by billionaire Steve Lansdown, they have signed several top-class players, including England international Kyle Sinckler and former All Blacks Steven Luatua and Charles Piutau.

Afoa is also a relatively recent addition having joined in 2018 and cites Lam and his style as one of the reasons players wanting to play for the Bears.

He said: “Knowing Pat and how he wants to play the game, that’s one of the main reasons I moved down. I knew that the style of play would suit me and the skills I’m still sort of hanging onto would suit the game.

“It really worked out well. We’ve got a great management team, physio team and the whole shebang. We’ve got a great training base now, so we’re well looked after. I feel like I’m not just a passenger in the team, I still feel like I’m adding and challenging guys like Max (Lahiff), Jake (Armstrong) and Sincks (Kyle Sinckler), when he’s around. We’re all challenging each other for that tighthead spot.”

Afoa on his future

Afoa is in the final year of his contract with the Bears, but is pretty relaxed about his future.

“I’m working through it with my wife. We’ve been away for close to 10 years now so it’s a decision we will have to make together; what’s best for the kids and all that,” he added.

“Bristol have been great, they’ve shown interest, and it will be hard to play anywhere else. Even though this is only my third year, I’m well and truly deep into the team and everything that it’s about.

“When it’s all done and dusted, it’s time to move home and connect with family and friends we haven’t seen for many years, and give the kids a chance to live a little bit of a New Zealand lifestyle before they get too old.”

John Afoa was speaking on behalf of Gallagher’s ‘Tackling Tomorrow. Together’ campaign. The initiative is supporting local businesses and championing their resilience during the pandemic through Gallagher’s position as title partner of Premiership Rugby. Find out more here: ajg.com/tackling-tomorrow-together

by Christian Evans

 

Bristol