England international full-back Max Malins is set to make a return to Bristol Bears at the end of the 2022/23 season after electing not to extend his contract with Saracens.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the 25-year-old is keen for more game time at full-back and has held talks with Bears director of rugby Pat Lam over a long-term deal at Ashton Gate when he becomes a free agent.
Malins was on loan with the Bears for the 2020/21 Premier League campaign, during Sarries season in the Championship, and scored 18 tries in 19 games, in all competitions, which helped him earn a place in the England set-up where he has since earned 14 caps for the Red Rose.
Malins’ potential arrival in BS3 would represent a significant coup for Lam but also throws further uncertainty around the future of superstar back Charles Piutau with the former All Black out of contract next summer and with growing suspicion he’ll move on.
The Bears had been linked with Leicester Tigers’ Freddie Steward but the 21-year-old signed a new two-year contract at Welford Road this week after significant speculation around his future.
Steward’s rise is also linked to Malins’ position on the international stage as it’s meant the latter has been used predominantly as a winger under Eddie Jones, not helped by his lack of appearances at 15 for Saracens.
With Elliot Daly and Alex Goode in front of him and very much part of the furniture at Sarries, Malins’ prospects in his favoured position don’t look particularly positive. Unlike at Bristol where, assuming Piutau does leave, he would be a strong candidate to be first choice albeit with the Bears possessing a number of versatile backs who can play there in Luke Morahan, Rich Lane, Ioan Lloyd and Henry Purdy.
Lam was hugely complimentary of Malins’ impact for the Bears, alongside fellow loanee Ben Earl, when he prepared to face them after their respective returns to Saracens.
“Those boys came in to play the Bears way,” said the Bristol director of rugby. “We didn’t play the Max Malins or the Ben Earl way, they came in and excelled because they got to know what our game was and they got a chance to experience and play it.
“Max got an England cap and Ben, we saw what they did. If anything that is the key here – we didn’t become the Ben Earl or Max, they came into our environment, enjoyed it, played it, played a part in it and we continue on our journey and that is the whole thing, there is a quote up here: players enter the rugby programme and they exit as better people and as better players.
“Everyone is going to come and everyone is going to go and our job is that they enjoy the journey along the way by the way we play, the way we do things off the field, on the field, and they had a great time here. Two good men. I really enjoyed my time with them and we will follow their careers closely because they are not just rugby players now, they are people that we really know well.”
