By Duncan Wood
October 23 2002

Bristol's Argentinian half back pairing, Agustin Pichot and Felipe Contepomi, today announced that they would be willing to interrupt their international duties and return to club colours to help the cause.

It's been known for some time that Gus and Felipe would be required for international duty after this weekend's game against Harlequins.

Losing them for part of the Autumn schedule has become something of an annual event. However, the two of them take great pride in representing their country and no-one should begrudge them that. There is also no denying their commitment to the club cause in recent years.

However, their announcement in tonight's Bristol Evening Post is still refreshing and a source of great encouragement for Bristol supporters.

It was originally thought that they would both miss 4 Bristol games. However, they have both declared their willingness to take a temporary break from the Argentina tour in order to return to Bristol and face Newcastle on November 11th.

They are also willing to play for their country against Ireland on November 23rd and then fly back and take their places on the bench for the away fixture at Bath the next day.

It's not all cut and dried as the pair of them are waiting for conformation from the Argentinian authorities that this will actually be allowed but they have stated their case and the officials are "reasonable and sympathetic".

With Bristol's current injury situation, losing the half backs would have been a grievous blow. Their commitment to the cause will serve as a massive boost.

In the BEP tonight, Steve Hill quotes Gus thus:

"It is massively important to us, and shows not only our commitment but the respect we have for Malcolm Pearce, Peter Thorburn, the rest of the staff and the team...As players we do not want to let the team down. We have not been at our best recently and are struggling with injuries. It's very important for us to be here when the team needs us."

It's a superb gesture and they deserve our recognition on Sunday.