'The deadline has passed now... We won’t be able to bring anyone in'

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan was “very glad” to secure a bonus point as side returned to the bread-and-butter of the Gallagher PREM with a 48-15 home victory over Harlequins.

Santi Carreras starred for the hosts with two first-half tries as Bath ran in eight in total to consolidate second place in the table.

Van Graan said: “After the high of the last two weeks in the Champions Cup, it was important that we backed it up in the Premiership. Scoring 48 points at home with eight tries to two is a satisfying win.

“It was certainly not our best performance of the season, but we came for five (points) and we got five.

“It wasn’t a classic, but for us the most important thing was to win the game and get a bonus point. As in every game there will be some learnings. There will be things we can do better – one or two bits around the ruck where Quins came hard at us.”

Looking ahead to next weekend’s opponents, top-of-the-table Northampton, van Graan said: “Look, they’re a very good side. They scored a winning try in the last minute today so there’s huge respect. We’ll just make sure we run our own race. We’re looking forward to meeting them again.”

On skipper Ben Spencer, who withdrew with a shoulder problem before kick-off, van Graan said: “We could have played him, but he was in a bit of discomfort so we decided not to risk him.”

Harlequins head of rugby Jason Gilmore, reflecting on more injuries sustained during the match, said: “It’s certainly difficult and it’s going to be more difficult in terms of putting a 23 together next week.

“Losing both your starting wingers in the first 25 minutes isn’t ideal. Then losing Jarrod (Evans) too in the second half when we had to cobble together a backline. It’s difficult times in terms of the depth of our squad, obviously.”

He added: “I won’t know the depth of the injuries until they get scanned. The deadline for bringing in players this week has passed now. We won’t be able to bring anyone in unless it’s emergency front row.

“The boys are training with really good intent, but it’s the quality of training when you have so many players out. It’s the quality of execution that we are lacking in training in terms of 15 on 15. We’ve just got to dust ourselves off and get ready for Sale next week. That’s a massive game back at home.”

More positively, Gilmore was glowing in his praise of captain Alex Dombrandt, who cut an impressive figure at number eight despite the scoreline.

Gilmore said: “Alex has been tremendous with his leadership in the last few months. He’s put his hand up during the Prem Cup – he didn’t want to miss any of those games. He played the Cornish friendly game as well.

“How he’s playing at the moment is probably the best I’ve seen of him, but it’s also his leadership, leading by example.”