Bristol's gifted gang of backline proteges are primed to explode on to the international stage, predicts former Wales flyer Kevin Morgan.
Morgan, now part of the strength and conditioning team, can bear first-hand witness to how, over the last 18 months, talented halfbacks Callum Sheedy, Harry Randall, Ioan Lloyd, Andy Uren and full-back Mat Protheroe have taken the Premiership by storm.
Sheedy, who represented England against the Barbarians last summer, is dual-qualified to represent Wales and England, as are Randall and Protheroe, while Uren (England) and Lloyd (Wales) have also earned rave reviews during Bristol's meteoric rise.
Morgan told The Rugby Paper: “I work mainly with our backs on their speed, strength and explosiveness and being an ex-player gives me a good insight into their make-ups. They are an amazing bunch of talented players to work with.
“A real mantra for us is that we want good, honest players and trainers and these guys have the talent to go far. You need a bit of luck but they're good enough for Test rugby – they just need the platform to show it.”
Morgan added: “This group have a lot of development in them and they'll get better and better. The better Bristol do and the more they play in quality games like quarter-finals, semis and finals, the more people's eyes will be on them.
“As a club, we've set our stall out to say we have to be top six, but before the stoppage we were in the top four and doing well in Europe. We're tracking where we want to be and there's a lot more to come from us.
“They can all play international rugby, you've just got to allow them to prove what they can do when the intensity comes on in high-pressure games.”
As lockdown enters its fifth week with no sign of any relaxation until mid-May at the earliest, Morgan has a crucial role to play as Bristol fight to keep their squad fit enough to resume quickly, as and when the green light comes.
The 2005 Grand Slam winner explained: “There's no face-to-face with players at the moment but there's so much individual messaging going on that my phone is never put down.
“Normally, I manage return-to-play protocols and it can be a lonely place for guys coming back from six to nine-month injuries, so keeping players engaged and not separating them from the group is important for them mentally because they miss the interaction.
“But now we've got the entire squad working in isolation so everyone, from Pat Lam down, is full-on staying in contact with guys and ensuring they're okay.
“As a professional rugby player, you're used to routine. You get your schedule of where you need to be hour-by-hour and you pretty much know what the next four weeks will look like, but suddenly that's gone and it's tough for players and coaches.
“It can be quite disorientating so we're trying to make sure that players have plans and schedules for training that they can do by themselves and we're trying to maintain some consistency by doing all of our individual training at the same time.”
How quickly could Bristol resume playing again if the call comes? “We're trying to keep things at a level where we could be ready to go within a couple of weeks.
“We can still keep a decent level of running training going, the hardest part will be the contact and skill elements which are hard to simulate training alone. But our guys want to play, they don't want to spend another four weeks or so regaining fitness.”
NEALE HARVEY
