Pat Lam has some huge selection calls on his hands heading into the opening weekend of the Gallagher Premiership when Bath Rugby come to Ashton Gate
His Bristol Bears won their second straight pre-season game over United Rugby Championship opposition on Friday night, coming from behind as they did against the Dragons last weekend to beat the Scarlets 34-28 at Parc y Scarlets.
Lam opted to field close to his strongest fit and available starting side, handing Kyle Sinckler his first start since April now the England international tighthead has recovered from a herniated disc in his back, while Charles Piutau returned from making his Tonga debut this summer after switching international allegiances from the All Blacks, and flanker Sam Jeffries made his first appearance having toured Australia with England.
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New summer signing AJ MacGinty was handed his first start since moving from Sale but it was his rival for the 10 jersey, Wales international Callum Sheedy, who caught the eye with a superb second half display, putting team mates through gaps and probing with his kicks.
The two men offer a stunning one-two combination and quality in depth in a key position the club have been missing in recent years.
Who starts at fly-half against Bath could quite literally come down to training this week.
Meanwhile the fit and available wingers continue to shine with Luke Morahan, Rich Lane and replacement Jack Bates all crossing the whitewash, while Henry Purdy was the star of the show at Rodney Parade. Add into the mix the injured Gabriel Ibitoye and Siva Naulago and the Bears' resources out wide look healthy.
Speaking after the match, Lam said: "I think a lot of guys have put their hands up for the Bath game. It is difficult for the coaches, we have just been talking about performances but we have just got to be true to the players by making sure we are very thorough and pick the strongest possible team to go and do the job for us on Friday night.
"The occasion will take care of itself. The most important thing is we are very clear on what we have got to do and how we are going to win that game."
Flanker Jake Heenan opened the scoring for the Bears against the Scarlets with Harry Randall scoring the second, exploding off the back of a scrum to run in untouched down the blindside for a second try in pre-season and timely reminder of the attacking threat he possesses. Having admitted his wavering form for England had got into his head and made him over question and analyses his decisions on the pitch, this pre-season has aloud him to play himself back into some form and confidence in the familiar surroundings of his home club.
However the Bears remain a work in progress without the ball under new defence coach Jordan Crane with former Wales international centre Scott Williams crashing over too easily in the first half for the opening score of the match before the Scarlets’ star signing Vaea Fifita powered over.
Bath, who beat Jersey Reds 38-17 on Friday, have been focusing on their maul game with former Bristol lock Dave Attwood a setpiece master, having switched allegiances and now pulling the strings in the Blue, Black and White setpice - meaning Scarlets hooker Daf Hughes’ try after breaking down the blindside from a maul will be an area of focus this week.
In the second half both sides showed their ability to score from close range with flanker Tomás Lezana practically burrowing his way over for the host before Yann Thomas smashed through the homeside’s defence.
For the second week in a row the Bears finished strongly to earn victory, holding on in the final moments with a display of character to head into the derby game with some momentum and form. Not perfect form but there are encouraging signs the Bears attack is looking sharper and more threatening than last season with six tries this week to add to seven against the Dragons.
Reflecting on pre-season, Lam said: "Two weeks in a row now we have come down to Wales and ground out wins, gone behind in both games but worked our way through it and there is some really good stuff in there.
"It has been a very good pre-season, three quality oppositions in Brive, Dragons and Scarlets, all away, and pre-season is done now. We have got a great family day on Sunday and then we are all ready to go, all guns blazing for Bath on Frida night."
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O'Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Rich Lane, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 1 Jake Woolmore, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Ed Holmes, 5 Chris Vui, 6 Sam Jeffries, 7 Jake Heenan, 8 Magnus Bradbury.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Morgan Eames, 21 Charlie Rice, 22 Aaron Tull, 23 Andy Uren, 24 Callum Sheedy, 25 Jack Bates, 26 Ioan Lloyd, 27 Henry Purdy.
Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers; 14 Steff Evans, 13 Jonathan Davies (capt), 12 Scott Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Dane Blacker; 1 Steff Thomas, 2 Daf Hughes, 3 Javan Sebastian, 4 Vaea Fifta, 5 Tom Price, 6 Blade Thomson, 7 Tomás Lezana, 8 Sione Kalamafoni
Replacements: Phil Price, Taylor Davies, Alex Jeffries, Morgan Jones, Josh Helps, Griff Evans, Luca Giannini, Iwan Shenton, Archie Hughes, Dan Jones, Eddie James, Corey Baldwin, Ioan Nicholas.
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