Rugby Some of our young boys really stood up, says Bears boss

As far as learning experiences go, Pat Lam was satisfied his young side got plenty out of Bristol Bears' 38-14 defeat to an Argentina XV at Ashton Gate on Friday night.

- John EVELY

Despite better planning than when the Queensland Reds came to town in January and the Bears were forced to try to juggle two fixtures in the space of 24 hours, circumstances meant that, again, director of rugby Lam was unable to field his chosen side for the visit of the high-profile visitors, who fielded a side of primarily Super Rugby Americas players.

Bristol went into the exhibition fixture with 33 unavailable players, mainly through injuries, but with the likes of Ellis Genge away captaining England to a 38-18 victory over Fiji, for whom Bears duo Kalaveti Ravouvou and Bill Mata were starting, Louis Rees-Zammit on the bench for Wales against an Argentina side that included Santi Grondona, and Tom Jordan among the replacements for Scotland.

Speaking post-match, Lam admitted frustration at having his selection plans ripped up, but has reconciled himself with the fact that is the hand he has been dealt for the 2025-26 season.

He said: "This is not the group we had planned to play this game.