Bristol Bears have announced that the Championship’s leading points scorer this season, fly-half Harry Bazalgette, will join the club from Hartpury University on a short-term loan deal during the Premiership Rugby Cup block.

The 26-year-old, who tops the points scoring charts in English rugby’s second tier with 103 points – and finished as the division’s leading points scorer in 2023/24 – joins the Bears with immediate effect following injuries to four fly-halves in Pat Lam’s squad and with a double header of games coming up this weekend in the space of 20 hours.

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Bristol Director of Rugby, Lam, said: “The injuries to AJ MacGinty, Max Malins, James Williams and Sam Worsley have left Harry Byrne as our only available fly-half, so it was important for us to bring in some cover during this next block, with the game against Queensland Reds on Friday night and the three Premiership Cup fixtures.

“Harry is a player who has performed consistently well for Hartpury in the Championship, and he’s excited by the opportunity to join the Bears.”

Bristol sit second in Pool D in the Premiership Rugby Cup with group stage games against Ampthill, Bedford Blue and Bath to come in the next month, plus potentially a quarter-final, semi-final and final. Lam plans to give on loan Leinster fly-half Byrne a run of games in the cup to allow him to bed into the team further ahead of the return to the Gallagher Premiership, with second place Bristol aiming to make a run for their first league title since the game turned professional.