Yahoo Sport 
AJ MacGinty’s USA call-up hands Bristol Bears boss Pat Lam a selection headache
Bristol Bears’ shortage of options at fly-half has been exasperated by the USA calling up AJ MacGinty for their Autumn internationals.
The USA will play Portugal, Tonga and Spain over the next three weekends to keep Bristol’s key playmaker out of club action with the Bears preparing to play Australia A on Friday night in a historic fixture for the club. The following day Bristol face Bath at the Recreation in the Premiership Rugby Cup to stretch Pat Lam’s thinned-down squad capacity to the absolute limit. With injuries to fly-half cover Max Malins and James Williams, Lam is looking incredibly short of options to fill the number 10 jersey over consecutive days this weekend with MacGinty now away.
READ MORE: Bristol Bears player ratings from Bedford Blues win - 'Too hot to handle'
READ MORE:Bristol Bears player ratings from Bedford Blues win - 'Too hot to handle'
READ MORE:Bristol Bears sign scrum-half to cover injuries and international call-ups
Academy fly-half Sam Worsley performed admirably in Bristol’s 67-19 thumping of Bedford Blues on Saturday and will undoubtedly have a big role to play next weekend, with the versatile Benhard Janse van Rensburg another option at stand-off.
Bristol director of rugby Lam said: “I thought Sam Worsley controlled the game really well against Bedford. He has had injury problems. He showed his class against Bordeaux last year in the Champions Cup and AJ has put a lot of investment with his time and doing analysis with Sam, and he should be well pleased with his performance. The beauty of having this small squad is they are getting game time and training reps, but they are also getting more attention from the senior players.”
That said, Lam admitted MacGinty remains an irreplaceable cog in the Bears machine with the 34-year-old in the form of his life as a playmaker at the heart of Bristol's thriving attack.
Lam said: “I can’t afford AJ to get injured but the good side of it is when you are older is better to keep playing, there is less chance of getting injured. When you wrap the old guys up in cotton wool they get a bit creaky. He is a big part of the USA as well as us but I will be praying he comes back safely."
