Pat Lam's prognosis on Max Malins as Bears win comes at a cost

Bristol Bears Director of Rugby Pat Lam has confirmed that Max Malins, the Gallagher Premiership's leading try-scorer, will be out for around eight weeks after suffering a knee injury in last Saturday's derby win at Bath.

The recently announced Premiership Player of the Month for September has started the season on fire with five tries in three appearances - as many as he managed in the whole of last season's league campaign.

However, he is now likely to miss four rounds of the Premiership and the start of the Bears' Investec Champions Cup campaign, which kicks off against Leinster at Ashton Gate on December 8th.

Meanwhile, fly-half/centre James Williams is forecast to be out until Christmas after undergoing pectoral surgery.

Lam says both injuries came about as a result of Bristol's determined rearguard effort at The Rec.

"I think when I look at their injuries and how they happened, it typified the effort we put in," he said.

"With Jimmy, if you look where he came from to stop Ted Hill from scoring, in the act of doing that he has injured his pec, and he'll be out for about 12 weeks.

"And Max Malins, when Sam Harris made his solo try, if you look at where Max came from, from the far side of the field, he put his body on the line and unfortunately got injured, too.

"Sometimes people question his contact but the tackle he put on him, and I think Sam Harris actually got injured at the same time, he got his leg stuck in between Sam's legs, and it gave his knee a bit of a shake. He's had a scan and the expected time back is about eight weeks.

"The way they did those injuries shows their commitment to the cause."