Bristol Bears: Dave Ward looks to address home discomforts

Bristol Bears need to start winning at home, said head coach Dave Ward as the Premiership Women’s Rugby returns this weekend.

All three of the Bears’ wins in the league this season have come on the road with defeats to Saracens and Harlequins at home.

They return from the two-week league break fifth in the table, five points ahead of Trailfinders a place below them.

“It’s really important for us to start winning at home,” Ward told BBC Radio Bristol.

“It’s a massive game for them, it’s a massive game for the league and for the players – they’re champing at the bit and want to get playing,”

After a few days in freezing temperatures, Saturday in Bristol is forecast to be a washout and with the team playing at their usual home ground of Shaftesbury Park – on a 3G pitch – Ward said the weather would “massively” impact team selection.

“We want to play a fast game even if it’s raining, even if it’s a little bit cold and we want to run Trailfinders around,” Ward added.

“Naturally with wet weather you can have more scrums, you’ll have different challenges with that, probably more line-out mauls to defend and probably less of the ball moving past the 12 channel because naturally the conditions do tighten the game up, have we got that third kicking option potentially as well.

“You start to think about substitutions, scrums are attritional, mauls are attritional, you’ve got to start bringing those players on and you’ll probably see that with selection this week.”