Grieve has total faith in youngsters
Bristol captain Iain Grieve says he has total faith that the youngsters at the club will help a push for promotion as opposed to burden it.
A whole host of top players have left Bristol over the course of the summer after the club narrowly lost out in the Championship play-off final to Exeter. It has now placed the heavy pressure of responsibility square on the shoulders of many young players at the club.
It will be a big season for Bristol this year because the rewards and pressures of promotion to the Premiership have never been greater. Bristol are also rated as one of the favourites to go up to the highest level of rugby this year despite their lack of squad depth.
There are many positives to have a very young side and Bristol could easily have a very good year. However, if there is not enough experience in the side then an equal number of negatives can develop.
Positives of youths
The main positive of having a youthful side is that Bristol will have a much fitter and faster team than anyone else. The energy across the side is going to be huge and if they can move the ball quickly then big gaps will open up in the opposition.
Bristol's young players are not bad players. Jack Tovey is rated as one of the best young wingers in the country and many have said that he'll be playing for England within a few years even if he is still at Bristol.
Another benefit of having a very young side is that younger players do not have so many mental scars. They have not played a high volume of games and this means they may not have been on the receiving end of huge defeats.
Grieve said: "If you're good enough, you're old enough – and the academy players we've got are good enough. They are excited about pulling on that Bristol shirt, running out in front of our crowd and playing for Bristol. A couple of years ago, I was in exactly the same position as them, so I know exactly what they're going through and how they feel."
Negatives of youths
If there is not enough experience in what is a very youthful side then it can mean more individual errors are likely to appear. Bristol may get so carried away with the noise of the crowd and the need to attack that they may end up making many mistakes in defence.
Younger players are also not going to be fully physically developed. They will come up against some very big players in opposition teams and this will mean youths getting pushed and bullied off of the ball.
Grieve added: "The Championship is a hard league, because you've got 12 competitive teams who are going to be gunning for each other throughout the whole year. The young boys are going to be tested, mentally and physically, but they'll be all right - They'll want to put their hand up for selection with the season starting soon."
Betting advice
The phrase of 'you don't win anything with kids' has been used in sport before and it has been proven wrong before. Bristol will be there or there abouts by the end of the season so go for it if you were thinking of backing the team.
Tovey looks like a player who can run away and score a lot of points for the side. This means you should back him on a match-by-match basis or back him to be the top scorer at the club by the end of the season.
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