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Bristol Bears Director of Rugby Pat Lam fast-tracked plans for the initiative - Adrian Sherratt
“Ellis Genge is always telling us that he’s got five mates in Knowle West who are faster than Jonny May,” says Gethin Watts with a grin. “I guess this is one way of trying out that theory.”
Watts, the head of recruitment at Bristol Bears and an ebullient presence around the club’s impressive high-performance centre, is half-joking. But within a few minutes, word spreads of an extraordinary sprint test.
One of the 42 teenagers invited to Bristol’s talent identification day, a wing who is working as a roofer while bidding to break into the professional ranks, has clocked 4.72s over 40m. That makes him quicker over that distance than any member of Pat Lam’s first-team squad.
Bristol have earned a reputation for doing things in a refreshingly different way. And already, well before lunchtime, their innovative attempt to unearth rough diamonds with a combine akin to the NFL draft feels justified.
Around two hours earlier, with anxious parents still milling around after dropping off their sons, Lam had entered the wide and airy “barn” – a large indoor space floored by artificial turf – to greet each member of an eclectic group with a handshake.
Every corner of England is represented, from Newcastle down to Cornwall and across to Norfolk. There is an Italy age-group international and another hopeful who has flown over from Belfast. One, who catches the eye of the Bristol coaches, is the brother of an England A back-rower. An array of positions and athletic profiles features a 130kg lock as well as a lively playmaker who must weigh around half that. Chatter suggests a participant has been affiliated to the Wakefield Trinity rugby league side.
Lam has been an outspoken critic of English rugby union’s talent pathways. The re-drawing of academy boundaries as part of the new professional game partnership (PGP) was especially frustrating for him. Although all parties agreed on a new map after officials from Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Football Union devoted considerable time towards making catchment areas equitable, Bristol are bottom of 10 clubs for several key metrics including number of schools, number of clubs and total population.
To combat this, having appointed John Barnes from Hartpury College as Bristol’s head of academy in January, Lam fast-tracked plans for a left-field initiative. March 31 is an annual deadline for clubs to offer out senior academy contracts and release unwanted prospects. This year, Bristol waited for that cut-off and then sent out an invite to their own draft. They had 200 applicants, all of them between the last year of school and the first year of university; between under-17 and under-19 brackets. Most resumes were supplemented by match footage and references.
Barnes had experience of running assessment days at Hartpury, where he would recruit 17 players from a field of almost 700. One major success story there was Louis Rees-Zammit. Bristol effectively begin with three teams donning blue, green and red bibs over kit from their clubs, schools and former clubs.
Mission statement
Accompanied by first-team coaches such as Jordan Crane and Sean Marsden, Lam is obviously passionate about this project. The players gather in front of him. Conversation had been sparse and tension palpable as the draftees sat with their backs to one wall of the barn facility moments previously.
Lam lightens the mood and focuses minds with a presentation that centres on four Bristol stalwarts: Charles Piutau, Callum Sheedy, Harry Randall and Piers O’Conor. Each of them, Lam explains, had taken distinct career journeys to the Bears. A later slide highlights Fitz Harding, the current Bristol captain. He was once in the 4th XV at Durham University, yet gradually progressed and was spotted by the Bears staff.
Close to 92kg when he signed for Bristol, Harding now cuts a more robust figure at 107kg and is regarded around the Premiership as an industrious and influential back-rower. Lam proudly states that many of his charges have been “rejects” at one time or another. With that, he implores players to thrive rather than merely survive when the going gets tough. Another key message is that “selection is just one person’s opinion”. Evidently, this is a new slate.
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Lam delivered a presentation to the group centred around four Bristol players who had taken a unique path to the club - Adrian Sherratt
Kevin Geary, the head of athletic performance at Bristol, has formulated the programme of physical tests. In the NFL draft, which has grown to become a high-profile staple of the American football calendar as a means of introducing stars of the future, college graduates have a chance to show off their bench press prowess among other drills. Geary wonders about the functional value of those work-outs.
The glitz of the draft is a compelling aspect of the NFL that produces rich storylines. To roll it out on a wider scale across English rugby union, academies would have to pool together homegrown players into a central pot. While it is an intriguing thought, we can all forget it until there is a drastic overhaul. Geary, an Irishman who was seconded to England A earlier this year, does not ask players to perform any lifts.
Physical screening comprises counter-movement jumps (CMJ) and a repeat-hop test to gauge power as well as sprints and the notorious “bronco”. The latter is a course of shuttles and turns totalling 1.2km in distance. Geary can immediately benchmark scores against those of professionals.
Kieran Marmion, for instance, has recorded Bristol’s best bronco time of four minutes and 11 seconds. Harding leads the forwards with a mark of four minutes and 40 seconds or so. Harry Randall and Rich Lane have hit CMJs beyond 60cm. As for the sprints, there are gates at 5m and 10m before the finishing line at 40m. Players want to get to their peak velocity as quickly as possible. Bristol wings Gabriel Ibitoye and Jack Bates both exceed 10m/s.
He may be a conditioning specialist, yet Geary – and indeed all Bears staff – are attuned to Lam’s tactical template and appreciate that match scenarios are paramount. Passing and mobility are critical at Bristol. Dave Ellis, the Kiwi skills coach with a tattoo on his calf to commemorate the Pro 12 title he won with Lam at Connacht, puts the youngsters through their paces at one station as the teams rotate.
Results and the bigger picture
When the broncos begin, a clock on the barn’s big screen counts up. Someone manages a fine time of four minutes 13 seconds. Lam wanders among the draftees and urges positive body language. “It’s easy to make yourself look like you’re working hard,” he says. “The better thing is to stand tall and show toughness. You recover quicker, too.”
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Lam offers some words of advice as the players go through a series of physical tests and rugby scenarios - Adrian Sherratt
Lunch in the canteen is followed by an analysis exercise for the players, which provides a chance to chat with Watts. Leaning into to data science, his team has recalibrated Bristol’s recruitment strategy. They have interrogated the value of individuals by dividing salaries by appearances for a pound-per-80-minutes metric and even devised a bespoke scoring system to illustrate a player’s compatibility with the Bears game plan.
Bristol’s squad spend this season, Watts reckons, is only heavier than that of Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle because they have cut numbers. The era of galacticos and what Watts calls “just-in-case players” is over. That makes academy production and unearthing rough diamonds more important.
Because the draftees are free agents, Bristol would be able to pick them up rather easily. If they were still attached to a Premiership rival, they would have to cough up compensation. Watts says that schemes like the Bears talent identification day can also inspire released players to stay in the game. Some might have been tempted to give it up.
Barnes points out that the average age of a Premiership prop is 28, so the prospects visiting Bristol today might not establish themselves for a decade. Everyone in England is waking up to the fact that “warehousing” specialist tackle-bag holders does not help anyone. Appropriate game-time at whatever level, whether it be for university sides or on loan lower down the league pyramid, must be allocated to youngsters.
The afternoon begins with more rugby scenarios, including a close-quarter tackling and breakdown clinic overseen by defence coach Crane. An hour later, the three groups of coloured bibs make their way outside onto a pristine training surface that matches the dimensions of Ashton Gate precisely. The cohort of parents that has hung around can finally watch. Using the full width of the pitch, teams cycle in and out. First it is offload touch and then full-contact commences. Drone cameras whir overhead.
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Parents were able to watch on as the teenagers moved to the outdoor pitches - Adrian Sherratt
A centre bursts up the middle and scores a wonderful solo try with a wicked side-step. In the space of around 30 seconds, two carriers are cut down in clattering tackles by the same tenacious back-rower. Crane walks over to Marsden, the Bears attack coach, and asks for a pencil to make a note. When these games are done, before a split for position-specific exercises, Barnes and Lam speak to a huddle of tired yet fulfilled draftees.
Lam is still wearing a smile as he walks away again. He and his coaches will catalogue video footage of the day and build a database so they can stay in touch with the draftees. At least a couple of invites will be extended to join Bristol’s senior squad for pre-season. There, newbies will have 10-12 weeks to acclimatise. After that, who knows? One man’s reject is another’s rough diamond.
“If I look at all our Bears teams, we’ve had a lot of rejects,” Lam says. “And I say that in the nicest possible way. We’ve had guys who have been turned down elsewhere and we’ve helped them on their journey.”
Should it kick-start just one career that might otherwise have waned, Bristol Bears’ ground-breaking draft day will be well worth the endeavour of a club that thinks outside the box.
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