PAT Lam wants Virimi Vakatawa to extend his stay at Ashton Gate and is in talks with the France centre over a new deal.
Vakatawa joined Bristol last September after the 32-year old, who has won 30 caps, was unable to resume his career in France because of a heart condition. He has made 19 appearances.
The last of Vakatawa’s, below, 146 matches for Racing 92 came in September 2022, but he was last year given the all-clear to play again by a panel of leading sports cardiologists.
“We are talking it through with V,” said Lam, Bristol’s director of rugby. “I hope he is here next season and we are working through things. He has been excellent on and off the field.”
Bristol this month announced that 17 senior players would be leaving at the end of the season, including Kyle Sinckler, Callum Sheedy, Magnus Bradbury, Dan Thomas and Piers O’Conor with Lam opting for a slimmed down squad next season.
“The hardest part of this job is telling players that you are letting them go,” said Lam. “You have difficult conversations, but we need to manage things better and that means a smaller squad next season.
“We will have 31 or 32 senior players and 13 transition players. We have had 40 seniors and I felt we needed to cut the number down.
“The squad was too big and it meant that some pl
