Bath Head of Rugby Johann van Graan has revealed England scrum-half Ben Spencer was withdrawn from their Champions Cup clash with La Rochelle through a hamstring injury.
The half-back, who started two of England’s four Autumn Nations Series games last month, was replaced by Louis Schreuder in the starting XV, with Tom Carr-Smith also moving onto the bench as a result.
Ben Spencer sidelined with hamstring injury
Spencer is clearly a key man for Bath, and has formed a sensational partnership with maverick fly-half Finn Russell, and that meant van Graanleft the decision to pull him from the starting XV was left to the very last minute.
“He did the captain’s run yesterday, but he’s got a very tight hamstring,” van Graan said after the game. “We took our time to make the call, and as a squad, it’s unfortunate that he didn’t play as our captain.”
The South African added: “He’s one of our very best players, kicking game-wise with his left foot, right foot combination, his connection with the whole troop.”
The exact extent of the injury, and potential timeframe on his return, is currently unknown, but he could be in doubt to feature in their next outing in the Champions Cup against Benetton.
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Despite saying how much Spencer was missed from the squad, as they fell to a narrow 24-20 defeat to two-time champions La Rochelle, he also took time to praise replacement scrum-half Schreuder.
“The amazing thing about this group is it’s the next man up, and I thought Louis was excellent tonight in very difficult conditions.”
He added: “I thought he kicked well and controlled the game really well too. You use the squad and you back him on short notice.”
The 34-year-old has featured six times for the Blue, Black and Whites this year, but this was only his second start of the year.
Johann van Graan ‘content’ despite defeat
It was certainly a case of ‘what could have been’ for the West Country side last night. Despite going into half-time down 21-6, they clawed their way back into the game and nearly secured a famous comeback win, but fell just short in the end as they lost 24-20.
Commenting on his teams performance, the Head of Rugby said he was ‘content’ with the fact they ‘mixed it’ with the French juggernauts.
“We stuck to our plan (in the second-half) and we gave ourselves an opportunity with two minutes to go. I’m content that we played our game, we mixed it with one of the heavier teams in in world directly, it’s not like we took punches lying down. We stood up.”
Bath now prepare for a trip to Italian outfit Benetton, as they look to avoid a banana-skin defeat to a side littered with Italian and Argentinian internationals.
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