Pat Lam on how the Bristol Bears duo having improved their weaknesses and become better players

Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam has praised the relentless self-improvement of Harry Randall and Fitz Harding, insisting the in-form duo are doing everything in their power to force their way into the England reckoning.

Both scrum-half Randall and club captain Harding have been standout performers in Bristol’s blistering start to the Gallagher PREM campaign, earning widespread plaudits across the league. Yet despite their instrumental roles in driving the Bears toward the top of the table, neither player was rewarded with selection in Steve Borthwick’s latest England squad.

Prop Ellis Genge was the only Bears player to make the 36-man squad, and Lam said that the public recognition of their form comes as no surprise, and admitted that both players have directly tackled the perceived weaknesses in their respective games, with Randall having worked hard on his kicking game and Harding becoming better at the breakdown.

"Everyone else is talking about their performances, and the thing I like is that when I look at Randall, particularly, everyone knows that 'Rands' is one of the best running half-backs," Lam said.

"His feedback has consistently been around his kicking game. I think we've all seen, right through, not just last week in those conditions, but right through, the quality of his kicking game, and he's put a lot of work into it."

Bears captain Harding has been brilliant over the past season with a string of talismanic, try-scoring displays, and Lam added: "When Fitz Harding first started, he was challenged around his turnovers and being a breakdown threat in there. He has turned it around, last year, this year, to be one of the best at it.

"Those boys take coaching, they take on feedback, and they go away and work on it. That's just the characters they are. All they can do is keep pushing. That's the best thing for them, the best thing for the club, and ultimately the best thing for England."

Ahead of Bears' PREM fixture on Friday night against Leicester Tigers, Lam will have to weigh up how many of his players who have been off on international camps this week are able to feature. Genge has been off with England and their camp has finished, but Louis Rees-Zammit with Wales, Tom Jordan with Scotland and Pedro Rubiolo with Argentina were still with their nations on Wednesday.

"It depends on the individual and it depends on what we're doing," Lam said as to whether they would come straight back in. "So sometimes I put them straight in, sometimes I put them on the bench, sometimes I have to not select them. So it's all on context.

"So the first thing is checking and then I will speak to them first thing tomorrow morning as a group, but we've been getting some feedback. Obviously, England finished on Tuesday. Scotland, Wales, Argentina, are still training today. So once this is finished, I'll catch up with the performance team and just make sure they're ok and good to go. And then we'll make that final call tomorrow."