Joyce, dubbed the ‘King of the Mead’ on account of his Bristolian roots in Southmead, has benefitted from the new training facilities at Abbots Leigh to the extent that he is now one of the first names on Pat Lam’s team sheet, often outperforming some of world’s finest second rows.
With last week’s convincing (20-7) win at Exeter establishing clear water for Bristol at the top of the Premiership and a last 16 Champions Cup spot likely, Joyce believes his side can usurp last season’s double winners as the West’s latest wannabes continue their rise.
Joyce, 26, told The Rugby Paper: “There’s a bit of mutual respect going on with Exeter and you can see what they’ve done in the last ten years since beating us in that 2010 Championship final. As a West Country rugby man, you can be quite proud of what they’ve done.
“In this part of the world to have achieved what they’ve done is brilliant, but we want to take over now.
“We’ve clapped them for a while but we want to fly that flag now and since we lost to Wasps at the start of the season, we’ve won every league game and haven’t looked back.
Denne historien er fra January 17, 2021-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January 17, 2021-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
England show who's No.1
ENGLAND women’s head coach John Mitchell says his side will take valuable lessons from the 24-12 win over world champions New Zealand as they build towards their WXV1 title defence.
Skivington: We're going to roll dice and go for it
THE Cherry and Whites are the enigmas of the Premiership.
Looking to go one step beyond this time around
NE small step is what it will take for Bath to go one better than last season and secure the Premiership for the first time, but it would be one of the biggest taken by the club in the professional era.
Four-try England make it 17 wins on the spin
ENGLAND women opened the Allianz Stadium era at HQ with a victory over New Zealand to make it 17 wins on the bounce before their WXV title defence.
Time for Borthwick to prove his worth
HONEYMOON periods are not set in stone and in my estimation Steve Borthwick’s ends this summer. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still in good shape.
Barrington ready to power up the Mob
RICHARD Barrington has signed up to the Ampthill “Mob” reassured that he’ll still have a target on his back most weeks.
Skivington keen to build identity
GLOUCESTER won their first trophy for nine years last season and reached the Challenge Cup final, but when George Skivington went on holiday the day after the campaign ended the words in his head were never again.
Roebuck targets England success
WINNING a maiden England Test cap to top the best season of his career will not be enough for Sale winger Tom Roebuck.
Booth: Tough telling players I was leaving
TOBY Booth admits telling his Ospreys players that he would be leaving at the end of the season was one of the hardest things he has had to do in his career.
Stephens' debut try sees off old rivals
DORKING had to dig deep in another tight game between two old rivals, with the lead changing hands twice and result in doubt right up to the final whistle.