Bristol's preseason friendlies have been confirmed

Peter Thorburn
By Duncan Wood
July 18 2002

Having spent their preseason in Argentina last summer, Bristol head to the Emerald Isle in August as Peter Thorburn seeks to fine tune the team's preparations for the forthcoming Zurich Premiership and Heineken Cup campaigns.

With the possible exception of one further signing, Thorburn thinks that his squad is virtually complete and the three games in Ireland will give all the players a chance to stake their claim for a first team slot and give the coaching staff the opportunity to try some different combinations.

The fact that 3 games will be played in 5 days means that everyone will get a runout and that the results may well take second place to the learning gained from the team/ individual performances.

The first match will be against Munster on Tuesday 13 August at Thomond Park, Limerick, kick off 7pm. Munster have just signed Dom Malone from Northampton but lost David Wallace for several months to a shoulder injury. They have been beaten Heineken Cup finalists twice in the last few seasons so will present a huge test.

The next day, Bristol will take on Connacht at Kilkerrin Park, Galway, kick off 6pm. Connacht are the least well known of the Irish provinces although they can boast a backline marshalled by former Ireland flyhalf, Eric Elwood.

The final leg of the Irish tour will be a game against Bristol's Heineken Cup pool opponents, Leinster on Saturday 17 August at Longford RFC, Longford, kick off 3pm. Neither team will want to give too much away and Leinster will probably be missing several players because an Irish squad session is taking place that day.

Peter Thorburn confirmed this when he told the official website:

“The games will be balanced between all of the players. Even though we’re up against Leinster, who we also meet in the Heineken Cup, I’m sure we’ll both be keeping some things back from each other.”

The final preseason 'friendly' will be played at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday August 24th at 3pm. Make a note of that date, it's a Saturday and not a Sunday!

Ebbw Vale are perhaps not the force that they were a few seasons back but boast a couple of names familiar to Bristol supporters in hooker Jon Evans and second row Ockert Booyse.