England prop Kyle Sinckler won’t feature for Bristol Bears this Saturday against Leicester Tigers but Ellis Genge has declined the opportunity to take the week off and is available for selection on what will be his first return to Welford Road since leaving last summer.
Genge and Sinckler were informed last week while at England camp that they won’t be involved for the early kick-off at Welford Road, denying the former an emotional return to the ground where he spent six years before rejoining Bristol. But despite all five of England's games at the Six Nations, Genge pitched up to the Bears High Performance Centre this week, reporting for duty as normal, and goes straight into contention for Saturday’s early kick-off.
The Bears go into the contest against defending champions Leicester on a five-game winning streak, achieved without the services of Genge and Sinckler who were on international duty, a run of form that has reignited their season and left them within seven points of a Premiership play-off berth.
“No, I put a message out to both of them last week when they were in camp to take the week off this week and we’ll see you the week after,” Lam said. “Ellis wanted to be back and I said, ‘no, take your week’ and he showed up. It’s who he is, he loves the game and sometimes he just wants to get straight back on the horse and go again.
“To have him back in has been good. I think the biggest thing he’s noticed is that he’s come back to a different team from when he left. A team, obviously on the field we’re doing very well, so a lot of more players have stood up, leadership-wise, so he’s enjoyed the week and it’s fair to say he’s not had to do as much and been able to adjust back into the group.”
After the injury issues of the first half of the season, Lam has enjoyed the luxury of being able to select a relatively settled XV for each of the “finals” he refers to as the run-in to the Premiership schedule, with the Bears in a position where they can’t afford to lose too many more games, if any, to gate-crash the top four.
Fly-half AJ MacGinty should be fine to face Tigers after sustaining a knee injury a fortnight ago, with Lam, his staff and squad enjoying some time away due to the gap in the schedule. Lock Joe Batley, however, is still a couple of weeks away due to a knee problem.
“The big thing with Ellis, regardless of whether we played Leicester or whoever he wanted to come back in,” Lam added. “That’s the main thing. I think the biggest thing also is, it’s not about Ellis, it’s about the Bears, us as a team and Ellis just wants to be part of the team.
"And that’s been our focus. Certainly the last few months, as we’ve turned the corner, has been about “team” and everyone competing and fighting, and he just wants to be part of that. We’re going up to Welford Road as the Bears. That’s it. As a team.”
The Bears do have a Challenge Cup Round of 16 clash on the horizon with Clermont the visitors to Ashton Gate next Friday which lends itself to the theory - given their chances of silverware in Europe are notably higher than in the Premiership - that some of his stars are being held back in consideration for that encounter.
However, that theory was quickly shot down by Lam who insists planning for Clermont will commence on Sunday. Focus now is fully on their trip to the Midlands.
“The Challenge Cup isn’t even in our thoughts, it’s 12:30pm, Welford Road, that’s it,” Lam said. “If you look at our selection, every game is a final and has been since we lost at Saracens, because if we lose another game our chances of making that top four are gone.
“Europe doesn’t even come into our thinking, it’s not even Europe week. We change clothes when we go to Europe, we wear different gear. It’s Premiership time and we’re picking the strongest, available team for us to play against Leicester and we’re going up there as the Bears. Plain and simple as that.”
