Bears looking to recruit after suffering more injury blows

Press Association's Duncan Bech reports on Bristol's defeat against Saracens at the StoneX Stadium

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BRISTOL boss Pat Lam revealed the Bears are being forced to recruit additional players to deal with an injury crisis that has now claimed Louis Rees-Zammit.

The winger suffered a toe injury as he joined Joe Jenkins (hamstring) and Tom Jordan (ribs) in being unable to finish Saturday's 50-17 Gallagher Prem mauling by Saracens at StoneX Stadium.

Lam hopes Rees-Zammit and Jordan will be short-term absentees only but fears Jenkins is looking at a longer spell on the sidelines.

It continues an ill-starred start to the season for Bristol, who, on the opening weekend, lost key backs AJ MacGinty, Harry Randall and Gabriel Ibitoye to injuries that have resulted in surgery.

"The recruitment team will be looking around for some extra players and we've been doing that in the background," said Lam.

"But it's finding the right players, people in contract, so that's always a tricky one at this time of the year, but we are searching everywhere.

"There are players who are dead keen but then getting released is the other side of it, so that's the challenge our recruitment team has to work through."

Bristol leaked seven tries and were never in contention from the moment Theo Dan started the rout after 135 seconds, although scrumhalf Kieran Marmion at least ran in a hat-trick.

"After four minutes we'd given away three penalties and Saracens rode off the back of that and dominated the collisions. Before we knew it, we had conceded three or four tries," said Lam.

"I loved the fight when the boys were trying to get that bonus point we thought we had at the end, which would have been great to come away with.

"But it's not a great day. We're not proud of what we did. We came out with no points, and that happens."