‘Tough man’ AJ MacGinty has survived one of the tackles of the early season in Bristol Bears’ win over Newcastle Falcons on Friday to be fit to face Gloucester Rugby this weekend in Round Two of the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership.
MacGinty vomited on the artificial pitch at Kingston Park after taking a shot to the ribs from Newcastle centre Sammy Arnold. The rib-tickler of a tackle had Bristol’s coaching staff holding their breath as the club’s only specialist fly-half received lengthy medical treatment before returning to the game. The 34-year-old USA international, who Lam won the Pro12 with at Connacht in 2015/16, now looks set to go head-to-head with Gloucester’s new Welsh international stand-off Gareth Anscombe at Ashton Gate.
Speaking in midweek, Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said: “AJ is good, he is a tough man. He was throwing up and in a lot of pain and I got the message down to the pitch that he could come off but he said he was good and got up and finished the game and produced a great cross-field kick to set-up the try for Max Malins which just shows his class and toughness. I pulled him off after that, he probably thought it was because he missed the kick that would have had us top of the table, but it wasn’t, it was to look out after him. He is a tough bloke that guy, he always has been. The medical staff said a lesser man would not have played on.”
Lam added: “He was a little bit ginger on Monday but he has been full on in training since then.”
Elsewhere in the squad, Bristol’s first-choice hooker Harry Thacker pulled out late in the day against Newcastle after coming down with an illness and remains doubtful to face the Cherry and Whites having continued to be under the weather in the early part of the week. Gabriel Oghre and Will Capon look set to face the Cherry and Whites.
Loosehead prop Jake Woolmore will also be sidelined in Round Two having had a collision with teammate Fitz Harding alerted by the new hi-tech mouthguard sensors the players are wearing this season to protect them from the effects of concusion. He is now going through the HIA return-to-play protocols.