Johann van Graan responds to Ben Spencer rumours

Bath Head of Rugby Johann van Graan is adamant that club captain and scrum-half Ben Spencer will be honouring the long-term contract that he signed at the start of March.

Spencer, 32, was linked with Racing 92 over the weekend by French newspaper Midi Olympique, as the Parisian club are looking to bolster their resources at nine, but van Graan insists his main on-field leader won’t be going anywhere.

“Ben has signed with us for the next three years; he’s our captain, so Ben is definitely going nowhere,” he said.

“Any team in the world can survey as much as they can. Ben is our captain, he is signed up, Ben is happy here, and we as a club put up a press statement a few weeks ago where Ben and I were quoted, so I am certainly not aware of anything.

“If Racing are looking for a nine, I wish them well.”

Meanwhile, van Graan has confirmed that England A centre Max Ojomoh is back in full training. Ojomoh injured his ankle in the home win against Newcastle a few weeks ago, but could be back for the Leicester game this weekend.

“He is progressing really well. He was in full training today; he is hungry, and he looked fast,” van Graan reported.

“So we’ll make a decision about whether we’ll put him on the pitch this weekend, or potentially the next, so I am not going to speculate on when he will return to play.

“Once I believe he is ready to perform on the pitch – because there is a difference between performing in training and performing in big games, and we have got some pretty big games coming up – I will put him on the pitch.”