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Bristol Bears add another Connacht connection to coaching team
By Jon Newcombe
Bristol Bears' coaching team for the 2024/25 season is set to be finalised with the arrival of Dave Ellis as skills coach.
The nomadic New Zealander, who hails from Waikato, worked under Pat Lam at Connacht for three-and-a-half years and was a key component in the unheralded Irish province's Pro12 Championship win in 2016. Ellis described that title-winning season "as the highlight of my rugby life".
He left Galway to return home to New Zealand in 2017 after accepting an offer to become one of Tana Umaga's assistants at the Auckland-based Blues.
Playing and coaching has taken Ellis all over the world to Australia, Canada, the USA, Asia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Argentina, followed by Ireland and New Zealand. He also had a brief spell as a consultant to the Bears in 2017.
The only other change to the coaching team from last season was announced earlier this summer, with Sean Marsden replacing Dave Walder as backs and attack coach.
Jordan Crane continues as defence coach and Mark Irish and Chris Morgan remain in charge of the forwards.
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Latest Comments
Spectacular fail at whatever point you were trying to make. The Boks currently is unbeatable, using 2 different teams, 3 different times during this RC. How many teams can claim that? Now because nothing the haters say matters as everyone sees their willful hate speech for what it is, you try to pop in the political scene of SA as some reason that makes no sense at all. The political situation in SA is highly volatile, the country's crime rate is through the roof and it's not a safe country, no matter how beautiful it is. Which just makes what the SPRINGBOKS did, and is still doing that much more AMAZING. For such a broken country to bring forth such talent and for such racist people (just not true) to work together to go back to back WC champs, nevermind all the other current achievements, they seem to be united in passion and love for the sport that no other country possess. Who are you to try and minimise what other people go through? To make lite of our hardships? Our struggles? What a small excuse of a cockroach you are. You should be ashamed
Go to commentsHe’s 106kg
Needs to stack some weight on
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