Johann van Graan won't rush to reinforce Bath squad despite £400,000 credit

Bath boss Johann van Graan insists he will play a waiting game before opting to use the £400,000 injury dispensation money potentially at his disposal following Santi Carreras’ season-ending injury.

Pumas international Carreras suffered an ACL injury in the 12th minute of Bath’s 23-5 derby defeat at Gloucester on Friday night and will not been seen in a blue, black and white jersey for the remainder of the campaign, depriving the 2025 champions of one of their primary playmakers.

Clubs are allowed to apply for an injured player credit worth up to £400,000 when a player is out for 12 continuous weeks or more. It sits outside the salary cap but must be spent on a player who plays in a ‘comparable’ position – fly-half/full-back in the case of Carreras – and cannot be more than the stricken player’s salary.

With established full-back Tom de Glanville and Henry Arundell, who can play 15, fit again, and Ciaran Donoghue another option, van Graan may feel he has enough cover to fill the hole left by Carreras setback. Bath Uni full-back Jack Woods and Austin Emens, who’s on loan at London Scottish, add further depth.

“What I have learnt over the last few years is that whenever we get injuries is to take our time. We know that each club can spend £400,000, and you can spend that in many different ways.

“I’ll always look around the rugby world at who’s available and who’s not. But I am not going to make a rushed decision on this. If I get the need, then I will use it. But you won’t see a back entering next week but you might later in the season.”

Van Graan then ran through his options outside of specialist full-back de Glanville, who, as of the start of the week, had still to return to full training.

“Reflecting on how we have brought young players through our system is something that we are very proud of,” van Graan said.

“Ciaran Donoghue is a young player who has come through, so that is an option for us; Henry Arundell can play at 15; Jack Woods is another young lad, as is Sam Winters, and they’ll get their opportunity in the PREM Cup.”

After a disappointing first season at Bath, 75-cap Carreras was starting to show the sort of form that explained why Gloucester were so loathed to lose him to their West Country rivals.

Carreras scored a try of the season contender on the opening weekend and had looked a lot more purposeful in attack until falling awkwardly on Gloucester’s 4G surface.

“Obviously it’s very sad for him. When you see the word ACL confirmed you know that it is a long time recovery and it is one of the most horrible injuries that a player can get because of the time that they are out,” said van Graan.

“Santi is one of our most important players, he plays multiple positions and is an important part in our jigsaw in the way we select teams.

“We will look after him very well in the coming months. I think the positive out of it was that it was just the ACL, sometimes you get the MCL together with it, or the PCL, or the meniscus. Some people heal quicker than others but most of the time it is betweeen nine months and a year. So, no timeframe at this stage but obviously it is a significant one for us.”

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Before the season kicked off, Bath looked light at loose-head following Francois van Wyk’s move to Connacht. Beno Obano was left as the only senior prop on that side of the scrum and Bath can ill afford another injury in that position following the toe injury suffered by Scott Kirk.

“It could be four weks, it could be eight weeks, I am not in a position to say right now. It is not a one-weeker, you won’t see him in the PREM Cup in the next month. Our next PREM game after this match is Bristol, so we’ll aim for that, same as Sam Underhill, but I can’t say at this stage whether he will be close or not,” explained van Graan.

Ioan Emanuel would appear to be the next cab off the rank, and could be recalled from his loan spell at Cardiff for tomorrow’s clash against Sale Sharks.

“I’ve got a very good relationship with Corniel (van Xyl, Cardiff head coach); we played together, coached together, and Bath and Cardiff have a very good relationship. The plan was always for Ioan to come back for the PREM Cup.

“Claudius Wheeler, if you think back, he played in some of the warm-up games, so we’ll make some decisions later in the week. And if it comes down to it, Jacobs Yates have played pretty well for the Uni, so that’s another option that we might look at as we go.

“We are going to back what we have got within our squad. We have got some young players coming through the system, and that is something that we are very proud of over the last five years. I am not saying we won’t bring someone in, in time.”

Van Graan confirmed that loose-head Theo Malik will remain with Super Rugby Cymru outfit, Aberavon, but is due to Bath in time for next month’s block of Cup matches.