Bristol 'pumped' for 'angry' Exeter at Ashton Gate

Bristol Bears coach Dave Ward called his team's win at Gloucester-Hartpury 'big'

Bristol Bears head coach Dave Ward has likened himself to irascible TV character Roy Kent as he prepares for a "huge game" against Exeter Chiefs at the end of a week when his team has attracted worldwide attention.

The fourth-placed Bears host the unbeaten Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) leaders at Ashton Gate - home of the club's men's team - on Saturday (15:05 GMT), when Olympic bronze medallist Ilona Maher will meet fans after agreeing a deal on Monday to join them for three months from January.

Exeter, who have USA internationals Gabby Cantorna, Rachel Johnson and Hope Rogers among their ranks, have teased Bristol with a series of humorous social media posts since they announced the signing of the American, who is the most followed rugby union player in the world on social media, with 4.5m Instagram followers and 3.2m on TikTok.

"It’s great - they want to ride on the coat-tails, no problem," said Ward, jokingly calling the posts "propaganda" by Chiefs counterpart Susie Appleby and drawing parallels between himself and fictional coach Kent, who featured in the Ted Lasso series about an American hired to coach an English football team.

"We all know what Susie's like. It’s going to be a huge game. They're trying to poke the bear, pun intended.

"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."

The Bears won 19-14 at reigning champions Gloucester-Hartpury on Saturday but both their defeats this season have come at home - and Ward is wary of Maher's much-discussed arrival distracting his players.

"We probably saw it last week with Harlequins men and the Joe Marler situation," Ward said of Quins' 48-24 thrashing at home to Bristol in the former England international's final game on Friday.

"Everyone wanted to give Joe a massive send-off after an amazing career and they end up not showing up on the night.

"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.

"It's a huge opportunity to do that on Saturday against an angry Exeter Chiefs team."

Susie Appleby's Exeter have won at Harlequins, Gloucester-Hartpury and Sale Sharks this season

The visitors are the only team with a perfect record in the top flight, winning their first seven matches.

"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," observed Ward.

"It's a tough one to go through. We've got a few ideas. I can see it being very set-piece orientated.

"They pride themselves on line-outs, so do we. The prop battle is going to be worth the admission alone."

Bristol's men's team host Leinster at the same venue in the pool stage of the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday (17:30 GMT), and Ward has discussed the momentum both Bears sides are enjoying with men's coach Pat Lam.

"The men probably put in one of the best performances I’ve ever seen," he said, adding that the weekend fixtures and Maher's arrival "couldn’t have happened at a better time".

"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'.

"Exeter roll in, Leinster roll in - I'm not leaving Ashton Gate if I'm a rugby supporter this weekend.

"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."