“Every player has some sort of past, but the past is in the past and we learn from it and move forward. My whole thing in life is to look back at all the ups and downs and experiences I went through."

It is fair to say there was a bit of controversy over the signing of Bristol Bears' latest player. Samoan back five forward, Totoa Auvaa, arrived in Bear Country on Monday night with a bit of a chequered past hanging over him.

Auvaa was already skating on thin ice heading into the 2026/27 season, having been involved in a nightclub altercation with England cricketers Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes in June, with the latter retiring from international cricket after having been captain of his country. A punch-up on a night out in St Albans broke the ice and led to him being sacked by Saracens.

But Bears Director of Rugby, Pat Lamb, has given him a third (or maybe more) chance at a career in rugby. He said he is ‘excited’ to see what he brings to the squad, adding that 'everyone makes mistakes,' and he is confident the 21-year-old will have learnt from his errors.

‘’People make mistakes and I felt that he would fit well with the group we have here ,with obviously support around him and he has started training this week and looks very impressive," Lam said.

"There's no doubt that we believe he's someone that has ability to grow and develop as a really outstanding rugby player. No player comes here unless I have good chat and I can work out I believe that this person has big dreams, is coachable, and can add value to the teams that I coach and to the Bears.

"And so no player changes us, so it's the same process. I've been through these processes many times, and probably at the end of it, I'll just determine whether those answers are yes. There's no doubt that we believe that he's someone who has that ability to really grow and develop as an outstanding rugby player."

Lam believes that Saracens were very good to Auvaa and provided many opportunities to help him progress. Also, having a figure like Maro Itoje massively helped his development.

‘’Saracens did an unbelievable job, for example they gave him this opportunity, but also his English was off, so they got him and English teacher, and now his English is very good," he added.

‘’And the other thing too is Maro Itoje and how good he has been for him as a mentor while he was still developing at Saracens.

‘’So, I think they did as well as they could. The decision they (Saracens) made they think is the right one, but as I said I’m willing to give him an opportunity and happy to do it.’’

Despite the controversy, Lam believes Auvaa will take this opportunity he has been given and will learn from his own mistakes.

‘‘For us what we highlight is what we expect, so it is about our expectations and find out what our players want to achieve and why they want to achieve them.

“Every player has some sort of past, but the past is in the past and we learn from it and move forward. My whole thing in life is to look back at all the ups and downs and experiences I went through."

Asked if he has spelled out the consequences as to what could happen if he gets involved in another incident, Lam said: "No, because we all understand that and what we highlight is what we expect. So it's about our expectations. So what I normally find out for all players is what's your dream? What do you want to achieve? What's your why? Why are you doing this? Why have you come from the other side of the world.

"Totoa is not even from the main city in Samoa, he is right out in the villages. So I know exactly where he comes from. So I want to understand why. And when I understand why they're doing what they do, and then I can talk about what we're trying to achieve, and then we're live, and that's what I do with every player that I meet.

"Every player has some sort of past. But the past is in the past, and you've got to learn. We learn from it. And we move forward. So, my whole thing in life, and remember, I've got five kids in the whole range from 34 to 19, they've all made mistakes, and I probably made more mistakes than they did, you know?

"My whole thing in life, with five kids at nearly 60, I look back and go, there were lots of ups and downs, but I am who I am because of the experiences I went through and then having the right people.

"Some of the decisions I made, rugby influenced a lot of it and people who mentored me and took me under their wing shaped me this way. I have benefited from it. There's a lot of stories that could go this way or the other way. The beauty of our great game is every good team has a good environment.

"We're all human, there's no guarantees, you're always going to be criticised for anything and praised for different things, you just have to keep pushing through. ’And once I had the right people around me it allowed me to shape myself into who I am today’’

He added: ‘’Every good team has a good environment, so you set out what your expectations are and find out what the players’ ambitions are, marry that all up, and at the end of the day we are all human so there is no guarantees.’’

Auvaa will go into the Bears senior squad and Lam is confident that he can be a quality player once he gets to grips with the Bears’ system and has all the attributes to be a top talent in the game.

"Well, I think the boys saw today in training how good he can be," Lam said. "He's a big boy. But he's an athlete and he's still got a lot of growing to do. His hands are massive. His feet are massive, and you know, he's a basketballer, he can jump. It's exciting. But the main thing is that like all the other guys, it's about getting into the team systems and being able to shine within their framework.

‘’This season he will look to feature in the PREM Cup, obviously he needs to learn all of our systems and the way we do things, he has started well, but you can be a really good player, and it is how quickly you can adapt to a new system.’’