Tom Whiteley and Theo Strang are set for a prolonged run at scrum-half for Bristol Bears during the Six Nations after Pat Lam confirmed Andy Uren has suffered a hamstring injury.
Uren strained his muscle in the act of scoring the first try in Bristol’s 37-21 victory over Newcastle Falcons, leaving Bears director of rugby Lam short of options at number nine with Harry Randall away with England.
Randall was an unused replacement for England in their Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland on Saturday, with Ben Youngs playing the entire game at Murrayfield.
Discussing Uren’s injury, Lam said: “It is a massive blow for us.
"He is a key player for us, especially when Harry is away. We probably could have coped with him pulling a hamstring at other times of the season, but we have gone from a feast to famine with losing Andy at this time with Harry away as well. That is two key players out for us so it is up to the others to step up.”
“Tom [Whiteley] is is a class player, he has got some great skills, but he would be the first to say he has got areas to improve, but he had a good game on Saturday.”
Theo Strang now looks set to come into the matchday squad as scrum-half cover on the bench to face Irish, for what would be his first Premiership appearance since joining the club in the summer.
Asked whether Strang was ready to step up to first-team duties, Lam said: “He has to be, that is the key, that is the challenge, it is the same for every player when we have injuries that is why we have a squad.
"In these next six or seven weeks, I have always said the team is never going to be the same and it is a case that you are not guaranteed to get an opportunity but when you do you have to take them.
“The more you perform the more you stay in there, so everyone needs to be ready.
“There is no such thing as a ‘natural’ Bears player, it is more about players doing their homework.
“It takes time and experience to be ‘a natural’. You take for granted that Harry Randall and Andy Uren have had so much time playing our game, that is natural. They don’t have to think and are a step ahead.
“I could see with Tom, although he did a lot of good things, it wasn’t natural for him because he just hasn’t had the game time in our system the other two guys have had.
“The other two guys have set a really high benchmark so it is not fair to compare the others at the moment until they get some more time under their belts.”
The good news is Bristol looked to be bolstered at stand-off for the visit of London Irish on Friday night with Ioan Lloyd out of Covid isolation and ready to take the number 10 jersey.
Callum Sheedy looks likely to be away with Wales again this weekend having come off the bench in their defeat to Ireland, while Sam Bedlow remains unavailable with a shoulder injury.
Last week the versatile Whiteley started at fly-half, but was quickly moved in one place to number nine following the injury to Uren, with fifth choice stand-off Tiff Eden coming off the bench to play the majority of the game..
While Bristol have almost their full stable of forwards available heading into the weekend, the club is looking thin on the ground in the backs.
Lam confirmed first-choice full-back Charles Piutau will miss Friday’s game with his ongoing Achillies issue which was tweaked when he limped off the pitch in the Champions Cup victory over Scarlets last month.
“It is the same issue for Charles, that we monitor," Lam said. "The positive thing is the work he has done on that Achillies, when you look at some other players, he has probably escaped four ruptures of his Achillies.
“That is a credit to Charles, Rory [Murray] and the medical team and the S&C team, they have really strengthened an area that could be really bad. They are constantly monitoring it.
“We are mindful that the last thing we need is Charles gone for a full season.”
His replacement last weekend against Falcons, former Wallaby Luke Morahan, is also unavailable to face the Exiles having tweaked a calf.
Lam said: “It was Luke’s calf, he and Andy are going for scans. There is no doubt calves and hamstrings are not good ones to get and they can be short, to medium to long term.
"We are waiting back on scans but he certainly won’t be available this week.”
