Bristol Bears Coach Dave Ward Prepares for “Huge Game” Against Exeter Chiefs Amid Global Attention

Bristol Bears’ head coach, Dave Ward, has drawn a comparison between himself and the irritable television character Roy Kent in anticipation of a “huge game” against Exeter Chiefs. This match concludes a week during which his team has garnered global interest. On Saturday (15:05 GMT), the Bears, currently in fourth position, will welcome the undefeated Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) leaders to Ashton Gate, the home ground of the club’s men’s squad. On this occasion, Olympic bronze medallist Ilona Maher is scheduled to meet supporters, following her agreement on Monday to join the team for a three-month period starting in January. Exeter, whose roster includes USA internationals Gabby Cantorna, Rachel Johnson, and Hope Rogers, has engaged in playful taunting of Bristol through a series of lighthearted social media updates. This began after Bristol’s announcement of the American player’s signing, who holds the distinction of being the most followed rugby union athlete globally on social media, boasting 4.5m Instagram followers and 3.2m on TikTok. Ward commented, “It’s great – they want to ride on the coat-tails, no problem,” humorously referring to the posts as “propaganda” from Chiefs’ coach Susie Appleby. He also reiterated the comparison between himself and the fictional coach Kent, a character from the Ted Lasso series, which depicted an American coach hired by an English football team. He continued, “We all know what Susie’s like. It’s going to be a huge game. They’re trying to poke the bear, pun intended.” Ward added, “They want to get at Roy Kent. I’m just batting it off. We’re here to do a job this weekend. We can’t wait to play at Ashton Gate and if there’s a bit of spice between me and Susie before the game, even better.” Last Saturday, the Bears secured a 19-14 victory against the reigning champions Gloucester-Hartpury. However, both of their losses this season have occurred on home turf, leading Ward to express concern that Maher’s highly anticipated arrival might divert his players’ focus. Referring to Quins’ 48-24 home defeat by Bristol in the former England international Joe Marler’s final game on Friday, Ward stated, “We probably saw it last week with Harlequins men and the Joe Marler situation.” He elaborated, “Everyone wanted to give Joe a massive send-off after an amazing career and they end up not showing up on the night.” Ward emphasized, “We can’t fall into that trap. The girls are focused, they want to win. We want to put on a home show for our fans – which we haven’t really done this season – by hook or by crook.” He concluded, “It’s a huge opportunity to do that on Saturday against an angry Exeter Chiefs team.” This season, Susie Appleby’s Exeter squad has achieved victories at Harlequins, Gloucester-Hartpury, and Sale Sharks. The visiting team holds the sole perfect record in the top division, having triumphed in all seven of their initial matches. Ward noted, “They kick more than anyone else in the league, they’ve got more territory than anyone else [and] they’ve probably got one of the best sets of props.” He added, “It’s a tough one to go through. We’ve got a few ideas. I can see it being very set-piece orientated.” Ward further remarked, “They pride themselves on line-outs, so do we. The prop battle is going to be worth the admission alone.” On Sunday (17:30 GMT), Bristol’s men’s team will host Leinster at the same location for the Investec Champions Cup pool stage. Ward has engaged in discussions with men’s coach Pat Lam regarding the positive momentum currently experienced by both Bears teams. He stated, “The men probably put in one of the best performances I’ve ever seen,” and commented that the weekend matches and Maher’s arrival “couldn’t have happened at a better time.” Ward continued, “It was unbelievable from them and we got over the line. Pat said to me, ‘it doesn’t mean anything if you can’t back it up’.” He concluded, “Exeter roll in, Leinster roll in – I’m not leaving Ashton Gate if I’m a rugby supporter this weekend.” Ward emphasized, “All eyes are on women’s rugby, all eyes on the weekend. It’s all about the product – if we get it right, people are going to come and watch. “A lot of people are preferring to watch women’s rugby because of the ball-in-play time, because of the skill level. We’re really pumped and can’t wait.”