Lam gets it wrong

The end to Saturdays Leicester vs Bristol game was rather unseemly, wasn’t it?

A row between the two head coaches with accusations flying around of lying and cheating, a final scrummage won by Bristol and then mass “handbags” which included players getting involved off the bench, meant that a fascinatingly close and entertaining match will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Bristol head coach Pat Lam continues to insist that Bristol did nothing wrong, but his claims that John Afoa was injured and therefore could not return for the final scrum after Bristol tight head Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro had been yellow carded, only for Afoa to take his position in the scrum when it became evident that Bristol would, if uncontested scrums were ordered, have to play the final moments defending their line with 13 men, would suggest otherwise. Even if not an intentional deceit, it wasn’t a good look.

This kind of thing is, of course, nothing new, with the infamous and farcical 100 minute France vs Wales match a few years back being the one that springs to mind. Pressure can get to anyone and strange things can happen in the heat of the moment  - so rather than continue to insist on his team’s innocence, perhaps Lam should just hold up his hands and admit they got this one wrong?

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was