Bristol Bears were beaten 38-14 at Ashton Gate on Friday night in an exhbition gameVictor Worsnip of Bristol Bears as Bristol Bears play an Argentina XV (Photo by Rogan/Bristol Bears)

As far as learning experiences go, Pat Lam was satisfied his young side got plenty out of Bristol Bears ’ 38-14 defeat to an Argentina XV at Ashton Gate on Friday night.

Despite better planning than when the Queensland Reds came to town in January and the Bears were forced to try and juggle two fixtures in the space of 24 hours, circumstances meant that once again, director of rugby Lam was unable to field his chosen side for the visit of the high-profile visitors, who fielded a side of primarily Super Rugby Americas players.

READ MORE: Bristol Bears player ratings from Argentina XV defeat – ‘A masterful display’

Bristol went into the exhibition fixture with 33 unavailable players, mainly through injuries, but with the likes of Ellis Genge away captaining England to a 38-18 victory over Fiji, for whom Bears duo Kalaveti Ravouvou and Bill Mata were starting, Louis Rees-Zammit on the bench for Wales against an Argentina side that included Santi Grondona, and Tom Jordan amongst the replacements for Scotland.

Speaking post-match, Lam admitted frustration at having his selection plans ripped up, but has reconciled himself with the fact that is the hand he has been dealt for the 2025/26 season.

He said: “This is not the group we had planned to play this game. When we looked at this game, if we hadn’t of had all these injuries we would have played the second string first teamers all playing, but that changed quickly.

“But, on the positive side of things, there are boys out there – three schoolboys from our U18s team last year – who it was brilliant to get out on the pitch and they were buzzing for the opportunity. Some young boys really stood up.

Despite being significantly outgunned in the scrum, the young Bears side, which included 12 academy players in the matchday 23 and new short-term hooker signing Nathan Langdon, showed plenty of character, scoring tries through teenagers Victor Worsnip and Ollie Harris. Mat Protheroe, pressed into action at fly-half having only just rejoined the club as an emergency injury signing to cover the back three, converted both scores with fine strikes.

But Argentina walked away worthy winners, eventually breaking some stubborn resistance in the pouring rain to touch down twice through dangerous full back Tobias Wade, who was the star of the show, and hooker Leonel Oviedo added a brace. Impressive number eight captain Juan Cruz Pérez Rachel had got the scoring started with a powerful burst, and Nicolas D’amorim also crossed the line. Julián Hernández and Bautista Farise both added a pair of conversions.

Amongst those youngsters to impress for the Bears was centre Worsnip, who has been brought into the England U20s fold at just 18 years old, and Welsh winger Evan Morris who was Bristol U18s player of the season in 2024/25. A try-saving tackle from Morris was the highlight of just his third senior appearance.

Another positive from the game was the return of senior full-back Noah Heward, who made his return from a horrible Achilles and hamstring injury to play a pre-planned 40 minutes as he works his way by to full fitness.

Scrum-half Sam Wolstenholme, skippering the side, also got more minutes under his belt after only just recovering from a hamstring injury to provide some more depth at scrum-half for the club, having been forced to sign two scrum-halves in short-term deals since the start of the season following Harry Randall’s hamstring strain, which resulted in surgery.

The Bears will now have a much-needed weekend off as they hit their bye week in the PREM Rugby Cup, before facing Exeter Chiefs on November 22.

Bristol Bears: 15. Noah Heward, 14. Evan Morris 13. Jack Bates, 12. Victor Wornsip, 11. Aidan Boshoff, 10. Mat Protheroe, 9. Sam Wolstenholme (c); 1. Sam Grahamslaw, 2. Tomas Gwilliam, 3. Lovejoy Chawatama, 4. Ethan Surrey, 5. Steele Barker, 6. Joe Owen, 7. Kenzie Jenkins, 8. Paddy Pearce.

Replacements: 16. Nathan Langdon, 17. Louie Trevett, 18. Jimmy Halliwell, 19. Will Ramply, 20. John Edwards, 21. Ellis Bevan, 22. Raff Weston, 23. Ollie Harris.

Argentina XV: 15 Tobias Wade, 14 Santiago Pernas, 13 Agustín Fraga, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 11 Mateo Soler, 10 Julián Hernández, 9 Alejo Sugasti, 1 Rafael Garrido, 2 Leonel Oviedo, 3 Francisco Moreno, 4 Lorenzo Collidium, 5 Federico Albrisi, 6 Nicolás D’Amorim, 7 Facundo Cardozo, 8 Juan Cruz Pérez Rachel (capt).

Replacements: Matías Medrano, 17 Diego Correa, 18 Octavio Filippa, 19 Lautaro Simes, 20 Juan Pedro Bernasconi, 21 Estanislao Pregot, 22 Bautista Farise. 23 Tomas Medina.

Referee: Sara Cox