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Bears had to fight for every moment – Lam
Western Daily Press
|January 05, 2026
BRISTOL Bears director of rugby Pat Lam gave his players the target of being top of the Gallagher Prem by the end of Friday night - and they delivered with a hard-earned win over Sale Sharks in a titanic battle at Ashton Gate.
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Lam's men were never ahead until the 73rd minute, with a yellow card three minutes earlier for Sale centre Rekeiti Ma'asi White proving to be decisive.
Kalaveti Ravouvou, right, Joe Owen and Matias Moroni were on try-scoring sheet for the Bears, with Tom Jordan and James Williams each kicking a conversion.
Tom O'Flaherty and Ernest van Rhyn crossed for Sale, with George Ford converting both tries and adding a penalty.
Lam said: “We set out that that was effectively a final and we needed to win it to be top of the table as Sale are our bogey team and always seem to be up for this fixture.
This story is from the January 05, 2026 edition of Western Daily Press.
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