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'It is what it is': Bristol confirm lengthy spell out for Luatua

(Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Bristol have admitted that the pre-season injury suffered last month by former All Blacks back-rower Steven Luatua has turned out to be serious enough to sideline him until between mid-November and early December. The 31-year-old, who arrived at the Bears in 2017 after a 15-cap career for New Zealand, was set to play the August 19 friendly away to Brive only to pull up lame in the final training session before travelling.

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The setback left him wearing a protective moon boot and director of rugby Pat Lam said at the time, “Stevie had been flying. It was probably the best I had seen him in pre-season. It is very frustrating, he was going to go to Brive and then in the last session he strained his calf. At the moment he is probably not going to make the start of the season.”

With a definite prognosis now known, Luatua will miss way more than just the start of the season. “Stevie is going to be at least a twelve-weeker,” admitted Lam at his midweek media briefing ahead of this Saturday’s round two Gallagher Premiership game at Wasps.

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“He is looking around mid-November, December. It’s okay. It is what it is. It is an opportunity for Stevie to get better and he still contributes off the field.

“It is pleasing that we have got Sam Jeffries who can play across the back row, Jake Heenan across the back row, having Sam Lewis on board is great, also Chris Vui who can jump into six as well and Dan Thomas is not too far off from his (ankle) niggles, and having Magnus Bradbury is great. Guys will step up.”

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Another player who will be absent from this weekend’s trip to Wasps will be Ellis Genge, last Saturday’s man of the match in the dramatic win over Bath. The ‘rest’ agreement with England will see him sidelined until the round three home match the following week against London Irish. “We put out a comprehensive plan that Eddie (Jones) was very pleased with, his team were pleased with, the RFU, the PRL and the RPA,” explained Lam, who has a plan plotted for Genge through to 2023.

“If we didn’t put a plan out I 100 per cent would have said, ‘No, he is no playing (against Bath), you have to wait’. Having a good staff I always say is important because these specialists all work together to get the right plan and most importantly the player is front and centre to ensure he is able to play at his best and enjoy what he does.”

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AM 5 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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