Pat Lam

Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player.  He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby.

Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 rugby. He played for Auckland, North Harbour, , Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints. He also won 25 caps for Samoa, including at the 1991, 1995 and 1999 World Cups. His usual position was number 8.

Since retiring as a player he has coached teams including Auckland and Connacht.

Playing career
Lam was born in Auckland and attended St Peter's College, Grafton, and captained the New Zealand Secondary Schools rugby team. He played at loose forward for Auckland, North Harbour and Crusaders, before moving to England where he first played for Newcastle Falcons. In his first season at Newcastle he made 22 appearances as they won the 1997-98 Premiership. However, after that triumph he moved on to Northampton Saints, with whom he won the 1999–2000 Heineken Cup. Lam moved back to Newcastle Falcons for the 2001–02 season, playing with the club for a year before retiring.

Lam played one game for the All Blacks in 1992 (becoming All Black no. 928), a non-test game against Sydney. He had played for Samoa first in 1991 and went on to captain them and represented them in three World Cups, retiring from international rugby after the 1999 tournament. Samoa reached the 1991 and 1995 quarter-finals against expectations.

Lam has also played for the Barbarians. He played in 2002 against  as a replacement, scoring a try. In his second game for the side, Lam captained the team to a victory over Wales, scoring another try in his final game before retirement.

Coaching career

Scotland
Lam's first coaching position was as an assistant coach to Scotland at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Auckland Blues
He was head coach of Auckland from 2004 until 2008. During his Auckland tenure he also coached the Pacific Islanders in 2006. He was head coach of Super Rugby team the Blues from 2009 to 2012.

Manu Samoa
He worked with Samoa on the team's 2012 tour. Samoa's victories saw it reach eighth in the IRB rankings, and a secure second tier position for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Connacht Rugby
Lam was appointed as head coach of the Pro12 side, Connacht Rugby in Ireland, ahead of the 2013-14 season. 
On 28 May 2016, Connacht won their first ever major trophy, the 2015–16 Pro12 after a 20–10 win against Leinster in the final.
This brought an end to Lam's stint at Connacht.

Bristol Bears
Lam left Connacht in the summer of 2017 to take up the head coaching role with Bristol Bears. He was later appointed Director of Rugby. He won the 2019-20 European Rugby Challenge Cup with Bristol Bears after a 32-19 win against Toulon In September 2021, Lam signed a five-year contract extension which will see him remain at Bristol until the summer of 2028.

Honours
Player
English Premiership 1998
Heineken Cup 2000
RPA players player of the year 2000

Manager
ITM Cup 2005, 2007
 Pro12 2016
 European Rugby Challenge Cup 2020
Honorary Doctorate from NUI Galway, conferred upon him on 17 October 2016

References

External links

1968 births
Living people
Barbarian F.C. players
Connacht Rugby non-playing staff
Crusaders (rugby union) players
Expatriate rugby union players in England
Newcastle Falcons players
Northampton Saints players
New Zealand expatriate rugby union players
New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England
New Zealand international rugby union players
New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent
New Zealand rugby union coaches
New Zealand rugby union players
People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland
St Peter's College, Auckland faculty
Rugby union players from Auckland
Samoa international rugby union players
Samoan rugby union coaches
Rugby union number eights
1991 Rugby World Cup players
1995 Rugby World Cup players
1999 Rugby World Cup players