Ioan striving to become one of Bears’ necessities

Growing up in Penylan, in the east of the capital, the trio attended Ysgol Glantaf, one of the powerhouses of Welsh schools rugby. When Ioan, the eldest, crossed for a scintillating solo try against Exeter back in August, the cameras picked up on his tribute to an icon of his old school who had recently passed away.

“Keri Evans was always a massive presence for me in rugby, and in my studies as well because I spent 95% of my time in the PE department,” says the young playmaker, adding that the influence of Evans, a former top-class referee, extended to more than just sport. “When I left Glantaf to go to Clifton College, he was a huge leveller for me because it was tough leaving my school and my home at such a young age.”

Evans impressed upon Lloyd how beneficial the move would be for the youngster, in terms of his rugby and life experience. And so it proved. “It’s an unbelievable place. When I first got there – and I know everybody says it – it was like walking into Hogwarts. The facilities are a different level to anything else, and I was quite overwhelmed during my first couple of months there, if I’m honest.”

The fantasy element of it all would only be heightened when, in his first term, he emerged onto the school field during break time to see the Welsh rugby team strolling across it. “I’d just done three lessons and then all of a sudden I see guys like Alun Wyn Jones and Josh Navidi walking through and I’m wondering what the hell is going on,” he says, laughing at the memory.

Two years later, Lloyd was convening at the Vale Resort with many of those same players, called up for the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup. “Even to this day, I consider being in the Wales camp a surreal experience – just meeting some of those boys, never mind training alongside them,” he admits. “I couldn’t get my head around it for a while. I’m probably quite quiet when I first meet people, but being there with Callum and Zammit, who I’ve known for years, made things easier for me.”

Despite there being no family or fans at Parc y Scarlets when Lloyd came on for his Wales debut against Georgia, he describes the occasion as “everything I could have imagined and more. By far the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” His mother had to make do with watching her son’s big moment on her phone on a hard shoulder near Tenby, after one of his brothers had been taken to hospital with stomach pain (it transpired not be serious). “When I finally got home that night, my parents weren’t even back yet, so I was just sat there buzzing on the sofa by myself!”

As part of one of the most talked about teams in rugby, he offers valuable insight into the rise of Bristol from Championship play-off perennials to the number one team in the English Premiership. “We’ve found a cultural balance where we all get along, but we’re also comfortable in challenging each other,” says Lloyd, whose early rugby days were spent with St Peters and CRICC. “It’s a great place to be. There’s a constant competitive element here, whether in training where everyone’s competing for positions, or in meetings where people can challenge each other’s ideas.”

It’s easy to forget that, with some star turns for the Bears and two senior Wales caps already under his belt, Lloyd has only just turned 20. “I’m still in the academy, but the club is so good in terms of integrating us with the senior environment. Coming here straight from school could have been difficult. They made the transition easy.” (In a couple of months’ time, he’ll be joined in the academy by another talented fly-half: 18-year-old Jac Lloyd, his younger brother.)

Kevin Morgan spoke last month about Bristol’s Welsh contingent making a point of conversing in Cymraeg with each other. It’s something Lloyd backs up. “Every time I’m in a one-on-one conversation with guys like DT [Dan Thomas], Kev, Gethin Watts, we always speak Welsh and it’s a really nice thing to be able to do,” he says. “I think I underestimated how much I valued the language until I moved over the bridge. Once we were both at Clifton, me and Jac started speaking it to each other a lot more.”

Being is in a position to learn from some of the biggest names in the game at Bristol clearly excites him; particularly when, as an NRL fan, one of them is cross-code sensation Semi Radradra. “I got really lucky other day,” recounts Lloyd. “Semi took me and a few of the younger guys out for lunch. Put it this way: I would have hated to have been him because I was peppering him with all sorts of questions.

“I was asking about Fiji and how he ended up in the NRL. He’s got the most interesting story. We must have been there for about two hours and by the end of it I didn’t want it to end, so I kept ordering extra things just so we could stay there!”

A Premiership play-off spot is already in the bag for Bristol, but such is the ambition of Pat Lam and the organisation that their next goal is to ensure the match is played at home in Ashton Gate. “The worst thing we can do now is to take our foot off the gas, so we need to keep going,” Lloyd says, referring to the next four fixtures against Gloucester, Sale, Leicester and London Irish.

A happy by-product of continued strong performances from Lloyd during Bristol’s run-in could be a spot in Wales’ squad for the summer series with Canada and Argentina. “That’s something I’d absolutely love to be part of, but it’s not something I’m expecting or thinking about right now,” says Wales cap #1164. “Even now, I don’t consider myself a Welsh international yet, but I’m going to do everything I can to play as well as possible in the coming weeks. Then, if it was to happen, it would be amazing to be involved this summer.”