Bristol Bears travel to Bath Rugby on Friday night in the semi-final of the 2024/25 Gallagher PremiershipBristol Bears’ Viliame Mata scores a try (Photo: Nigel French/PA Wire.)

A battered and bruised Bristol Bears have been focusing on their physical recovery this week as they prepare to do battle with a fresh Bath Rugby side on Friday night in the semi-final of the Gallagher Premiership.

While Bristol were engaged in a physical, must-win game against Harlequins on Saturday, Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan was able to rest his first-team squad for their final regular season trip to Saracens, having secured their home tie in the play-offs with three rounds to spare.

While Bath have played considerably more games than Bristol this season due to reaching and winning the finals of the Premiership Rugby Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup while the Bears were knocked out in the group stages of both competitions, van Graan’s larger squad has allowed him to fight on three fronts and rotate more, allowing his front liners to even let their hair down on a team social last week.

Speaking on Wednesday ahead of the semi-final, Lam said: “The effort the boys put in running-wise and collision-wise against Harlequins was pretty huge and we were pretty battered after the game. On Monday, we just pretty much did a classroom session. We just went through the key things we are going to bring into the game against Bath.

“All the boys who didn’t play against Quins, we took them for a session. Tuesday was another day of recovery and then we had the Premiership awards, which we didn’t get back from until 2am in the morning, so we moved our training day on Wednesday back a couple of hours. We have had a sharp 45-minute training session, just the one session.

“The priority for the six-day turnaround is recovery, especially knowing Bath’s 23 will be fresh.

“My main priority this week is giving the players clarity on what they need to do and getting their tanks as full as possible in terms of their bodies ahead of Friday night.”

Amongst those being looked after this week is number eight enforcer Bill Mata, who was replaced after just 47 minutes on Saturday, leaving the field gingerly in clear discomfort. The Fijian number eight has found some peak form in recent weeks and plays a key role in Lam’s side in both attack and defence as one of the biggest, most explosive players in the squad.

Providing an update, Lam said: “He just took a knock and we didn’t want to take any risks, especially when you have Stevie Luatua and Joe Owen on the bench. He will be fine.

“He is a perfect example, with the collisions he took, it is just about getting bodies right. There were a lot of players doing non-contact today who we are just getting fully recovered.”

Elsewhere, Bristol finished Saturday’s 52-26 win against Harlequins with hooker Harry Thacker playing in the back row after replacement Joe Owen was withdrawn with an injury.

Providing an update, Lam said: Joe, unfortunately, when he came on, he mistimed a tackle and caught his shoulder wrong. I knew something was wrong because Joe is a big tackler and he dropped off three or four tackles, which is why we brought him off. He probably won’t be available for the rest of the season now.”