SEAN Holley has revealed Bristol are “working hard behind the scenes” to bolster their ranks before Friday’s transfer deadline – despite already having a 50-man squad at their disposal.
Bristol are by no means guaranteed to add any further players to their squad before the end of the week – but coach Holley admitted “there are some ongoing negotiations”.
Bristol have recently signed Scottish duo Ross Rennie and Stuart McInally on loan to the end of the season, as well as Luke Baldwin on a longer-term deal and Adam Hughes on a contract until June.
The GKIPA Championship play-offs are on the horizon and Bristol must make any signings for the remainder of this season by Friday.
Holley, speaking at Bristol’s weekly media session, said: “We’re always trying. It’s not about where we are, it’s about where we want to be, so we won’t keep anything from you – if there’s any news, you’ll get a heads-up about that.
“We’re not being sneaky in any way, it’s just there are some ongoing negotiations, and if there’s any news we’ll let you know.
“But we are working hard behind the scenes, even though the transfer deadline date is upon us.”
Holley said it was important that any potential signings measured up to the high standards imposed by director of rugby Andy Robinson, Holley and the Bristol board.
“It’s always about the right signing – not just anyone who’s available who has good vital statistics. It’s not about that,” said Holley.
“The person has to fit our vision at Bristol Rugby, he has to have certain qualities that fit into the current culture of the squad and what we’re trying to create here at Bristol, and he has to be value for money.
“Those are three very strong criteria on which the board, Andy and I will always do due diligence.
“Every player we’ve signed so far, we felt that we were really happy with that and we deserved to get them – and any announcements that are made for the rest of this season or next season will be for the same reasons.”
With Bristol having such a large squad, a number of players have found themselves on the outside looking in where selection is concerned of late.
One of those is Samoa centre Fautua Otto, who has not featured since Bristol’s win at Gala in the British Irish Cup in mid-December.
But Holley said Otto was working hard to get back into the first-team reckoning.
“Anyone can force their way back in – and that’s the beauty of the Bristol squad at the moment,” he said. “We’ve got a big squad, but they’re all coming fit, they all desperately want to play in the big games, and that keeps the other guys on their toes.
“Fautua is training well and he’s still in our system. It’s been a difficult season for him – he hasn’t hit any sort of form or consistency and that’s manifested itself in selection, or lack of.
“He’s had a couple of niggles and injuries, a couple of illnesses, he’s been away with Samoa. So he hasn’t got up and running this season, unfortunately for him – and, to the credit of the other players, they’ve taken their chances.
“That’s one thing we’ve always said: if you’re consistent and you keep working on your game, then you’re going to get representation for Bristol. At the moment, people such as Luke Eves and Ben Mosses are holding those shirts and they deserve to, quite frankly.”
Article source: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/video-teenager-stopped-playing-rugby-6748360
Bristol Rugby working hard to add new faces before deadline
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