Pat Lam believes Bristol Bears' 42-19 loss at Sale Sharks on Saturday summed up their disappointing season.
The Bears were 28-0 down before the interval on the final day of the Gallagher Premiership campaign, with Tom Roebuck, Akker van der Merwe "and a Cobus Wiese brace securing the bonus point in no time. Toby Fricker got one back and replacement Nathan Hughes added a late double in his final Bristol appearance, but second-half scores from Arron Reed and Dan Du Preez sealed a heavy defeat.
It was a fitting end to a poor campaign for Bristol, finishing 10th in the standings after a 16th defeat. Set-piece woes and sloppy handling gave Sale a helping hand and, driven by the desire to win for departing South Africans Lood de Jager and Faf De Klerk, the Sharks were ruthless.
"I think it sums it up nicely, particularly that first half," director of rugby Lam told PRTV. "It was 28-0 and from our first nine lineouts, either we turned them over at the lineout or the maul. I said to the boys that I’ve never coached a team that loses nine lineouts, we spoke about it at half time.
"Fair play, we said ‘Let’s go enjoy our rugby, let’s get out there’ because in the first half we blew two really good long-range tries and we showed there was opportunity but we had no possession because we were turning the ball over.
"Fair play to the boys, we won that second half 19-14 but we coughed over two easy tries and we were chasing the game all the time, but these boys never give in."
Saturday's defeat, like the season as a whole, was underpinned by sloppiness with the ball and Lam admits there will be a back-to-basics focus when pre-season training begins next month.
He said: "I think it’s time for a good break, but we’re pretty excited to get back on July 4 and there is a lot of work we’ve got to do on our fundamentals in particular.
"That’s what we’re going to be working on, all our set-pieces. We look at our breakdown work, our passing, our basic skills. We’ve got to put a lot of emphasis on the small things because that’s what makes the difference."
Hughes, John Afoa and Alapari Leiua were among those to play their final game in Bristol colours on Saturday and Lam thanked them for their efforts over the years.
"They have put a massive contribution into the Bears way," he added. "Once a Bear, always a Bear and they will always look back at what they’ve put in.
"That’s what you want. All of us have got to leave at some stage but make a big effort while you’re here and those boys certainly have."
