Bath defend Finn Russell selection call

Johann van Graan insisted he was right to give Finn Russell a week’s holiday which ruled him out of the 24-18 loss to Northampton and will draft the Scotland outside half straight back into the team for the West Country derby at Gloucester on Friday night.

Bath missed Russell’s tactical skills in a match dominated by kicking for position with van Graan’s team wasting crucial points scoring opportunities late in the match. However, the head coach insisted his decision to rest Russell, the club’s marquee signing from Racing 92 in Paris in the summer, had been correct as the outside half had come straight to Bath from Scotland’s Rugby World Cup campaign.

Van Graan said: “Finn will be back for the derby (with Gloucester) and that is the agreement we had from the start that everyone in the squad will have a week away. We decided this was the week for Finn and we still have 12 games in a row. We showed against Northampton that irrespective of what team we put out we are good enough to win and while a few people raised eyebrows ( about the decision) with the last play of the game we could have been the victors.

“If you give Northampton field position they are very good at multi-phase attack and they took one opportunity more than us.”

England prop Will Stuart was repeatedly penalised by referee Adam Leal in the final quarter after he entered the fray and those key penalties will be raised with the assessor who was at the match. “I will speak to Paul Hull on Monday morning to address those issues:” added van Graan who will also raise the decision to time out Orlando Bailey as he attempted a first half penalty. “We had enough opportunities to win the game and I will go through the official challenges.”

Van Graan paid tribute to the increasing influence that Cameron Redpath is having on the Bath back division which has seen him continue his international partnership with Russell. “ With Finn coming in from Scotland he has formed a good relationship and he is one of the leaders in our group. He will be a big player for us in the years to come.”