JAMES Grindal has a 100 per cent winning record as Bristol captain – and the summer recruit believes the additional responsibility is helping his own game at scrum-half.
The 32-year-old – a veteran of 179 Premiership, 16 Heineken Cup and a further 29 European Challenge Cup matches – has led Bristol to victories over Ulster Ravens and Bedford in the last fortnight.
And after a start to his Bristol career where he was in and out of the side, the captaincy appears to have been the spur Grindal required. "I'm really happy with my form, and first of all it's an honour to be made captain – it's nice to have won two from two as well," said Grindal, who will lead Bristol again at Nottingham on Sunday. Part of the reason I came here, and I'm sure part of the reason Liam (Middleton) brought me here, was to bring my leadership skills and experience from 15 or so years in the Premiership.
"Being in the middle of it at scrum-half, I'm able to do that, and the added incentive of being captain is making me increasingly vocal and, hopefully, the lads are enjoying me being skipper. I certainly am and being skipper again this weekend is another big challenge for me personally, but it's helping my form as well. I'm getting a run of games now and I'm starting to pick up my form."
Grindal is not the only one whose form is starting to pick up, with Bristol having arrested their pre-British & Irish Cup slump by winning three matches in a row.
Last weekend, they backed up wins over Cardiff and Ulster with an impressive, hard-working 23-13 success against second-placed Bedford.
This weekend's challenge is similarly difficult: an away trip to Nottingham, who have won their last three Championship matches and sit two points off second place. "We knew, having won only two of our first six, that we weren't in good shape," said Grindal of Bristol's early-season form, which saw them lose consecutive matches against Leeds, Moseley and Rotherham.
"This trio of games – Bedford, Nottingham and Jersey – is a mini-block where we need to build momentum off the back of the British & Irish Cup. Nottingham will pose similar challenges to Bedford, so it's quite good we've got them back to back. They'll play good attacking rugby but bring in a bit more abrasiveness with their forward pack.
"They are higher up the table than us and it's important we get another four points. This is an important stage of the season – we highlighted that before the B&I Cup. It's nice to be three weeks on and have three wins, and we really want to push on now. We'll look to bring what we brought to the Bedford game last week – and, hopefully, more."
With head coach Middleton expected to keep faith in the back row of Redford Pennycook, James Merriman, pictured, and Mitch Eadie that performed impressively against Bedford, club captain Iain Grieve is likely to stay on the bench, with Grindal continuing as skipper.
"It's something you have to enjoy, and you need to express yourself while you are captain," he said. "I enjoy the pressure of being in the middle of it all and I draw on my experiences from the past – I've played under a lot of great captains.
"It comes naturally to me, talking, and Bristol has a great young squad with some good other leaders within that and we all pull together.
"Grievesy is club captain and he epitomises Bristol Fashion with the way he plays. When he has been playing this season, myself at scrum-half, James Merriman and Ross Johnston have been leaders who help the captain – and those guys are still doing that with me now."
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