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Bath boss Stuart Hooper plays down Anthony Watson injury scare

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Bath boss Stuart Hooper has moved to play down an injury scare surrounding England star Anthony Watson.

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Watson, one of England’s top performers at the World Cup in Japan, limped out of Bath’s 25-19 Champions Cup defeat against Harlequins.

He went off nursing a leg problem 11 minutes into the second-half.

And the Bath fullback underlined his frustration in front of watching England head coach Eddie Jones by hurling his gum-shield to the ground before leaving the action.

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“He feels all right,” Bath rugby director Hooper said.

“We were just making sure we looked after him. I think he’s all right, yes.

“It’s not his knee. He just pulled up a bit tight, so we just brought him off.”

England look like being without injured Exeter centre Henry Slade for the early Six Nations action, with the World Cup runners-up facing France in a Paris opener on February 2.

Bath, meanwhile, are staring at a first top-flight European whitewash after Quins won the Pool Three encounter thanks to tries from flanker James Chisholm, wing Gabriel Ibitoye and number eight Alex Dombrandt, while Brett Herron kicked two conversions and two penalties.

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Bath managed three touchdowns of their own – hooker Jack Walker, wing Gabe Hamer-Webb and centre Jackson Willison the scorers – and Freddie Burns added two conversions.

The west country club have never lost all their pool games in a European campaign, but a 16th season of European Cup rugby will officially be their worst if they are toppled by Ulster next Saturday and suffer a sixth successive defeat.

Bath encountered a number of problems in the lineout, and Hooper added: “We are already looking at the detail of what went wrong there.

“It is something we pride ourselves on, so it’s disappointing, but we will fix it for sure. It was a missed opportunity to win a game.”

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Quins’ victory means Bath are consigned to finish bottom of the group, and it was an impressive triumph following last week’s 48-10 Gallagher Premiership drubbing against Sale Sharks.

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Quins head of rugby Paul Gustard said: “We asked for the team to show character and make more of a statement, and I thought we did that from the word go. Our performance was much improved.”

There was no let-up to Quins’ injury problems though, with skipper Chris Robshaw failing a head injury assessment and hooker Max Crumpton being helped off near the end.

“Adversity can make you or break you,” Gustard added. “We will come through this tough period a better team, better people.

“Every game we play we want to win; it doesn’t matter where you are in the competition. It is important that we keep building momentum.

“We beat Bath and Gloucester at home, we should have beaten Ulster away, we drew with Leicester when we should have won, we produced an abject performance against Sale, and we won tonight.

“All we can do is keep focusing on ourselves and try to get the right result next week (against Clermont Auvergne) to build momentum and continuity leading into Saracens (on January 26).”

– Press Association

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TI 1 hour ago
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Rieko took literally years to turn from a defensive liability at 13 into a guy, who’s defensively sound as it befits the position. And it all came at the cost of him being much less of an offensive threat, than what he used to be. Proctor is a natural 13, he handles, passes, and kicks way better than Rieko ever will, he just isn’t as fast.


It’s unfair to judge Tupaea on the handful of games he’s had in 2022 before he got nearly crippled by a Wallaby lock. What could Tupaea/Proctor pairing be, if they got the same amount of chances as Jordie/Rieko?


Because no matter how you spin it, playing a player outside of his natural position is a poor asset management. No matter how talented he is, he still competes against players who had years and years of practice at the position. And if said guy is so talented that he actually CAN compete against specialists, imagine how much better still he could have been, if he had all those years to iron the toothing issues at the position. It just drives me mad.


Two things I hate in rugby union beyond description: aping after league, and playing players outside of their natural position. Especially considering, that they all admit they hate it, when they’re allowed to speak freely. Owen Farrell spent 80% of his international career at 12, saying every time when asked, that he is a 10 and prefers to play at 10. Those players are literally held at a gunpoint: play out of position, or no national jersey for you.

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Hellhound 2 hours ago
What has happened to Aphelele Fassi?

Willie will always be the most missed player for me once he retires. He wasn't interested in scoring tries. The ultimate team player. Has the most assists in tries in the Bok team, and his kicks always spot on, at least 95% of the time. He reads the game like no other player can. He wasn't flashy, and people didn't notice him because of that. Great rugby head and knowledge. He should be catapulted into an assistant coach in the rugby system. He should really consider coaching.


Damian Willemse is an excellent fullback and he is the number 1 fullback. He can play the entire backline positions, except maybe 9, but I'm sure he would be able too if he wanted. No one is taking that away from him, only stand in while he is injured. He is world class and you don't swap that out. He also got wicked dancing feet, great eye for openings, and reads a game like few can, like Willie Le Roux. Also very strong on his feet, with absolute great hands and his kicking game is just as good.


As for Aphelele Fassi. What a great find and he has exceptional talent that Rassie will mould into a world class player. Yet.... He is nowhere even close to Damien Willemse. He has a long way to go to get there, but he is surrounded by great team mates from who he will gain lots of advice and support. He can play wing and fullback and Rassie may just try him out as a flyhalf or centre too. He has the abilities to expand his game. He is for sure a future star, but not yet at the stage to take away Damien Willemse's spot. However, DW start and AF on the bench, that is an awesome replacement. Between the 2 they cover all positions in the backline once AF gets that training. The Boks could go 6/2 permanently if they wanted. 6 forwards, a scrumhalf and AF. I may be wrong, but Rassie will spread AF around.

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