Pat Lam: Bristol Bears coach takes blame for loss going into Gloucester derby

Pat Lam took the blame for his team's heavy defeat to Exeter Chiefs at Ashton Gate

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said the last two weeks have been a "learning curve" after back-to-back Premiership losses.

Bristol were beaten 50-14 by Exeter at Ashton Gate last week, their heaviest home defeat in the Premiership's professional era.

It followed a defeat away to Newcastle the week before, which ended their winning start to the season.

They next face Gloucester on Saturday in a West Country derby at Kingsholm.

"It's probably my fault. I said to the boys after I made some subtle changes which didn't work for us and it forced us into a game which made it very easy for Exeter, particularly in our attack," Lam told BBC Radio Bristol.

"The boys worked hard, probably in areas that they are not comfortable with, that they shouldn't have done.

"They went hard and they went out there but it certainly wasn't the way we wanted to play, but we'll bounce back."

Bristol started this season perfectly with three wins in their first three matches to move to the top of the league table.

However they now sit in fourth with 14 points, six behind table-toppers Saracens, having played one more match than all three teams above them.

Against Exeter the Bears were outclassed across the pitch, conceding seven tries and creating few opportunities in attack themselves.

Their England international scrum-half Harry Randall also went off with a hamstring injury and has since been ruled out for up to four months.

"The formations that we normally have were completely out of sync and like I've said, my fault and we'll sort it out," Lam continued.

"The last two weeks have been great learning curves for us, and certainly for myself. As I said to the boys I love that they went hard out but we put all our energy in the wrong part of the game."

'Exciting to be back at Kingsholm'

Gloucester are preparing for a second successive West Country derby, having narrowly beaten Bath last weekend in a tense contest at the Recreation Ground.

"Our accuracy is always something we want to improve on and I think not having a game the week before was always going to be a challenge, especially when you haven't had a run before that," head coach George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"I think we always review and say 'did we take the right options, could we have done things a little bit better, was there a better option'."

The match with Bristol will be the first time the team have played at home in the league since 11 September when they beat Wasps, after a bye-week and cancellation of their fixture with Worcester.

Like Bristol, Gloucester will also be missing a key player after a knee injury ended Mark Atkinson's season.

"It's exciting to be back at Kingsholm because it does feel like ages since we played any rugby here."