Bath issue update on injured international quartet

Bath will have to negotiate the remainder of the first block of PREM Rugby fixtures without the services of three of their star locks.

Charlie Ewels, Quinn Roux and loose forward Ted Hill were all injured in Friday night’s 28-16 win over Sale Sharks and are set for a spell on the sidelines.

Ross Molony came off the bench to replace Ewels, and after Roux was injured, Hill moved from the blindside to the engine room before limping off himself.

Bath face three of their arch rivals – Gloucester, Leicester and Bristol – on consecutive Saturdays before the league takes a break during the Autumn Internationals, and by the sounds of it, Bath will have to dig deep into the playing resources at lock.

“Charlie will be out for a number of weeks with his knee. Ted has gone for some more specialist opinion; it’s his ankle, so that’ll be a few weeks that he’ll be out. And Quinn is similar, too, he did his knee, so we’ll just take our time and see how long that takes for him to come back,” said Head of Rugby Johann van Graan.

Van Graan may choose to move PREM Cup-winning captain Ewan Richards into the second row in partnership with Molony, while youngster Harvey Cuckson could be recalled from his loan spell with Worcester. Senior academy players Will Jeanes and Wales U20 international Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi and Jack Bennett are other options.

Van Graan added: “That’s just the game and you have got to adapt. Whoever pulls on the jersey will make sure they perform on the weekend.”

As for Will Muir, the England winger might have to wait another week before making his seasonal bow.

Muir, who was capped against Argentina this summer, injured his ankle in the pre-season friendly win against Worcester.

“We’ll make a call later in the week,” said van Graan. “It’s been a bit slower than anticipated, he ran in the session (Tuesday).

“I think the fact that we have got a lot of players available, I am not going to rush him back because the season lasts so long.

“He’s working extremely hard at it, and we’ll make a decision at the back end of the week about whether we go with him this week or the next one.”