Pat Lam fears Bristol Bears have lost their fourth scrum-half to injury and unavailability to once again plunge the struggling club into a crisis in the key specialist position.
For the third successive week, the Bears lost a scrum-half to a potentially serious injury as Toby Venner, who only joined the club on loan from Gloucester Rugby on Monday, damaged his knee in the 19-14 defeat to Worcester Warriors on Friday night in a non-contact incident as he looked to launch a big step before attacking a gap in the defensive line.
Having come off the bench for his debut for the club, replacing Theo Strang who was making his first start in the Premiership for Bristol having arrived on trial in the summer, Venner was replaced at number nine by Ioan Lloyd who has now played in every position in the backline at some point this season.
