Lam has no complaints as former side Connacht knock them out of Europe

NO COMPLAINTS: Bristol head coach Pat Lam during the post match press conference. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

Bristol Bears coach Pat Lam said he knew that if they gave Connacht opportunities they would pay the price against his former side as they crashed out of Europe.

It was a sobering return to Galway for Lam against the side he led to the only bit of silverware they have ever won.

“You have to be at your best when you come here but you make it even harder if you don’t play your best. We coughed up too much ball and Connacht put us under pressure. Huge congratulations to Connacht.

“We are all disappointed. You give Connacht opportunities, you don’t take your opportunities, you pay the price. It was a good night for the west of Ireland.” Lam said the red card to lock Josh Caulfield after 13 minutes was a big factor after his boot made contact with Finlkay Bealham’s head, but said it was completely accidental.

“It was a complete accident. I just saw Finlay, thankfully he’s all good. It was 100% an accident. It does make it harder. It means you have to be more accurate and we weren’t. He was devastated and apologised to Finlay after.

“The officials look at it, they make their calls and you go with it. You win some, you lose some. It is what it is,” he added.

Meanwhile, Connacht coach Pete Wilkins said this was the perfect way to crown a new era for the province as they scored a bonus point win to at least book a place into the Challenge Cup knockout stages on a night when their newly named Dexcom Stadium rocked.

“We were all really aware of how important today was in terms of the announcement and the excitement around that. We talk about fresh chapters at the club. Again this is another important building block in that. We knew we would have a terrific crowd here supporting us.

“I think it was appropriate that we not just capped it with a win but with a really sound performance as well.” The win ends a seven-match losing run for Connacht in the competition and ensures European rugby in April.

“I was really proud of the effort and I thought it was a good way to finish the pool stages at least, given what came before it,” added Wilkins.

“As a club we are ambitious and we always strive for that. I’m pleased we are still in Europe. Although we had three losses to start the European campaign this year we were able to build each time and we learned something from it.

“Some of the time we just learned to take our medicine. We were poor against Bordeaux, against Saracens we learned a lot about our game management and against Lyon we learned a lot about the consistency in terms of what you need to be to be competing at Champions Cup level.

“Each one was an important stepping stone, although a bit painful at times.”