We must help Ed through his recovery, says Bristol flanker Grieve

Iain Grieve says Bristol's players have an off-field challenge coming up which will be as tough as anything they will face on the pitch this season – keeping team-mate Ed Barnes motivated, writes Steve Cotton.

Fly-half Barnes ruptured his Achilles tendon for the second time in six months late last week – six weeks before he was due to return to full training.

The 28-year-old now faces at least another six months out of action following surgery to repair the damaged Achilles.

And flanker Grieve says it is down to every one of Bristol's players to ensure Barnes and fellow long-term injury victim Bertrand Bedes continue to feel like they are part of the team.

"It is sad what has happened to Barnesy – but as a team we have to stand by him, egg him on and try to keep his head up," said Grieve.

"We have to help him through his recovery. He is basically starting all over again – but when he comes into the club, the boys will chat to him, ask him how he's getting on and do their best to keep him motivated.

"It's a challenge for Ed, but it's also a challenge for the boys – we have to keep him involved in the club and keep his head up."

And Grieve has revealed how Barnes has the perfect rehab partner in Frenchman Bedes.

The No 8 ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee 11 minutes into his Bristol debut against Rotherham – but Grieve says he will be able to help Barnes fulfil one of his main off-field ambitions.

"It will be good for them to work together and encourage each other – and one of Barnesy's aims for the season was to learn French or at least improve his French," said Grieve.

"If or when Bertrand and Barnesy get working together, it will be interesting to see how fluent Barnesy becomes in French!

"I was gutted with what happened to Bertrand. He was just getting into the thick of things and it was his first start for the club. But, like with Barnesy, we'll all stick by him."

Bristol have several concerns on the field, too, after suffering their first defeat of the Championship season against Exeter last weekend. They slipped to third in the table as a result of that 35-26 loss and face a tricky trip to fourth-placed Cornish Pirates tomorrow.

"Losing to Exeter has got the players to open their eyes a bit more," said Grieve, who will start at blindside flanker at Camborne Rec.

"Understandably, some of the fans weren't too happy, but we've looked at it and have said we're not going to dwell too much on losing. All we can do is look for a better performance next time.

"Yes it was our first loss, but we're hoping we can pick up our performances now.

"Going through the video and seeing some of the mistakes we made, we were pretty gutted. I think it was more gutting seeing the amount of opportunities we had and didn't finish off.

"So I think it was just a case of looking through it and seeing how we're going to fix things – and that is what this week has been about: improving things we've been making mistakes on and keeping our heads up."

Head coach Paul Hull has made six changes to the side beaten by Exeter, recalling Lee Robinson, Jack Adams, Alex Clarke, Darren Crompton, James Phillips and Redford Pennycook.

As a result, Tom Arscott, Luke Eves, Mark Irish, Wayne Thompson, Mariano Sambucetti and James Merriman drop out of the starting line-up.

Bristol: L Arscott; L Robinson, J Adams, J Fatialofa, D Norton; A Jarvis, J Spice (capt); A Clarke, D Blaney, D Crompton, J Phillips, R Winters, I Grieve, R Pennycook, D Montagu. Reps: R Johnson, W Thompson, M Sambucetti, J Merriman, S Alford, L Eves, T Arscott.