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<\/p>\nBristol Bears host Saracens at Ashton Gate on Saturday in Round 15 of the 2025\/26 Gallagher PREM<\/p>\n
(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Welsh star full-back Louis Rees-Zammit and Argentina international Santi Grondona are back in the selection mix for Bristol Bears<\/a> \u2019 make-or-break play-off race game with Saracens on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n Rees-Zammit has recovered from a training ground knee injury, while Grondona has been absent with a calf strain.<\/p>\n The Bears come into the match sitting fifth in the table, just one point behind Exeter Chiefs, who are sat in the final play-off place. Saracens still harbour a glimmer of hope of being involved in the conversation, trailing Bristol by six points.<\/p>\n But while two internationals are set to return this weekend, Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam confirmed that Argentina international number eight Benjamin Grondona and England international hooker Gabriel Oghre have both been ruled out for the rest of the season following the injuries they sustained up at Newcastle Red Bulls last time out.<\/p>\n Lam said: \u201cGabe Oghre twisted his knee on that artificial pitch, so he\u2019s had surgery, and he\u2019s gone for the season.<\/p>\n “What happened to Oghre was 100 per cent the pitch because he lands, his foot gets stuck, and he gets twisted trying to jump someone.<\/p>\n \u201cBen Grondona, again, when he went down, got caught in a tackle there, so he\u2019s torn a bit of his pectoral, so he\u2019s out for the rest of the season.”<\/p>\n Providing an update on his trio of players who suffered hamstring injuries at Newcastle, Lam said: \u201cRich Lane, he\u2019s not too bad. Joe Batley and Noah Heward, those boys are back training but on modifications, so we\u2019ll see what happens with those guys. At least it wasn\u2019t as bad as we originally thought. Santiago Grondona\u2019s back in training, and Louis Rees-Zammit\u2019s back in training.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to make sure you are on top of all the rugby news in the South West? Then our new newsletter is the perfect place to do so<\/p>\n All the latest news, views, interviews, reports, and analysis concerning Bristol Bears, Bath Rugby, Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester Rugby are delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE<\/a><\/p>\n Lam also shed light on the fitness status of Irish international Kieran Marmion and Georgian flanker Luka Ivanishvili, who were both named on the club\u2019s unavailable list for the 52-19 win up at Kingston Park but are in fact fully fit, with the forward actually drafted onto the bench for that game after Batley pulled up in the warm-up.<\/p>\n Lam explained: \u201cBecause of our injuries this season, the EQP (England Qualified Player) numbers have been one of the biggest issues.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to average 15 in a matchday 23 over the season, and we\u2019re below that at the moment. I\u2019m trying to catch up on that because you have to finish the season with that average. In some games, I need to make sure I\u2019ve got more than 15 English players in the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n So Marmion missed out, with English-qualified Sam Wolstenholm getting a run out as the replacement scrum half option.<\/p>\n A club that misses the EPQ quotas can face fines of up to \u00a3250,000.<\/p>\n Bristol Bears on Whatsapp<\/p>\n Join Bristol Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol Bears stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the Bristol Rovers news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_JS130771282.jpg\")
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