New signing Ralph Blalock insists Brighton Bears have the chemistry to challenge for honours after their four game tour of Portugal.

Bears had an 8am training session in Aveiro this morning before heading south to Lisbon for the flight home satisfied with third places in two highly competition tournaments.

The eight-man touring squad returned free of injuries, though young Budd Johnston missed the trip with an ankle problem.

Now Blalock, a key summer capture form Leicester believes Bears can find the attacking fire power to tackle the best in Britain.

He said: "We wanted to get the chemistry right between ourselves and I think we have done that. We are looking for big things this season."

Bears have still not confirmed the signing of American forward Ryan Blackwell, who produced a mixed bag of performances in Portugal.