Bristol Bears beat Gloucester Rugby 49-34 in Round Four of the 2025/2026 Gallagher PREMFitz Harding of Bristol Bears celebrates with teammates Steven Luatua and Benjamin Elizalde after scoring his team’s third try (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Bristol Bears added two more players to their horrific injury list on Friday night as Max Pepper and Steven Luatua both limped off the pitch with strains, leaving director of rugby Pat Lam with more to think about selection-wise heading into their clash against reigning champions Bath next weekend.

Despite missing 13 backs heading to Kingsholm, Bristol scored seven tries against the Cherry and Whites, touching down through Sam Worsley, Gabriel Oghre (2), Fitz Harding, Viliame Mata and two tries from Fijian winger Kalaveti Ravouvou, to walk away with five highly valuable points.

Gloucester touched down through Matias Alemanno, Seb Blake, Josiah Edwards-Giraud, Will Joseph and James Venter.

Providing an update on his latest walking wounded, Lam said: “Every time we’ve had 4G pitches, we’ve had strains or people fall. The real danger is people falling on the back of your leg and your feet get stuck and it’s not much good. Joe Jenkins had surgery because of that. They (Pepper and Luatua) both ended up with strains, hamstring for Max Pepper and Steven Luatua’s calf.”

Pepper’s absence will provide a further headache for Lam heading to the Rec next weekend, but he confirmed utility man Jack Bates and full-back Josh Carrington should both be available for selection in the derby, having been sidelined against the Cherry and Whites following failed HIA’s in the win against Exeter Chiefs.

With limited available backs for selection this week, having brought in Matia Moroni and Toby Fricker as emergency loan signings ahead of Gloucester, Lam was delighted with how his team performed in the face of adversity.

He said: “To get five points here against a team where we lost twice to last year, and they’re a dangerous side, was pleasing.

“I know this team has always had fight and this forward pack has always been good, but it always gets overshadowed because people want to talk about the nice tries, the fancy tries. But now, because of the amount of changes and new players in, and the quality that’s missing, we’re not quite flowing like we normally do, which means we’ve got to gut it out and fight. I’m loving seeing it last week and this week.”

A huge positive for the Bears was the player of the match performance from young fly-half Sam Worsley. On what was just his third PREM start; he slotted seven out of seven conversion kicks in what was an incredible performance from the tee, scored a try and passed the ball beautifully for a 19-point haul.

Lam said: “He’s had a wretched time breaking down from injuries, but we had a plan for him. He does not do consecutive days; we looked at November for him to be up for the PREM Cup but now everything has happened, he’s been thrown straight in there.

“What I love about Sam is that he has so much confidence. We adjusted things to make it as easy as possible to bring his strengths out. His goal kicking was tremendous last week and today, I am really pleased with Sam, he’ll get a lot of confidence out of last week and this week.”