Pat Lam proud of performance as Bristol see off Exeter in high-scoring thriller

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam expressed his pride in his players as they ran in eight tries in a 52-38 West Country derby victory over Exeter at Ashton Gate.

Jack Bates scored a hat-trick of tries and James Williams crossed twice for the Bears, who managed to overcome their opponents despite a red card for back rower Santiago Grondona on the half hour.

Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Harry Randall and Steven Luatua were also on the try sheet while Harry Byrne slotted six conversions to move Bristol within a point of Gallagher Premiership leaders Bath.

“We showed a lot of composure, managed the game really well, we chose the right options, didn’t panic, and really showed the growth of the group,” Lam said of the performance.

“We said at half-time ‘well, that’s entertaining!’, but our one issue was our defence and I showed the boys some clips where we were over-committing at rucks and were too tight around the rucks.

“It was an easy fix, and with 14 men the boys managed it so well. We were just disappointed to give away the two tries at the end when we were out on our feet.”

New Exeter head coach Rob Hunter, who was promoted to the role from forwards coach on Thursday to replace Ali Hepher, was also full of praise for his team’s performance as they ran in tries through Martin Moloney, Henry Slade, Dafydd Jenkins, Josh Hodge, Jack Yeandle and Will Rigg.

Hunter said: “I am super proud of the lads. We had some highs and lows in that game but we stuck at it, and we showed some real resilience and we are going to get better.”

Six tries were scored in the opening 16 minutes alone, and Hunter added: “It was a crazy opening but fair play to Bristol, they’ve got a particular attacking style that is really difficult to deal with.

“They’ve got a really great attack and if I wasn’t personally involved in the game, I’m sure it would have been quite nice to watch that. But they are very, very good, they’re really clinical and they’ve got some great little plays which are really hard to defend.

“There are so many things we need to work on right now. It’s just which ones we prioritise in the short term, but there are not really any areas of our programme that I’m not prepared to rip up in terms of getting better.

“We’ve got an incredibly committed group of players and staff. I’m super excited by the challenge.”