Squad had to pull together in isolation
Bath Rugby’s Miles Reid said the squad had to pull together to get themselves past the Heineken Cup cancellation against La Rochelle.
The forced result against the French has left Bath with very little hope of progressing to the next stage after their opening round defeat to Scarlets, which left a number of Bath players needing to isolate after coming into contact with Scarlets player who later tested positive for Coronavirus.
Speaking to the press before the Boxing Day clash against London Irish was also cancelled due to further positive cases in the Irish camp, Reid said: “It challenged us in a number of ways.
Some boys having to isolate from the Scarlets game.
“We had to pull together in a number of ways to overcome it. It was a good challenge for us, and we saw some of the younger lads stepping up in training and filling the spots that they wouldn’t normally be in, so that was a positive.
“It was good for some people to come to the front and show the squad what they are about.
“Even though we didn’t play, it was good to see those lads step up and show us what the future of the club looks like.”
With plenty of games in the pipeline, pandemic permitting, Reid continues to look ahead to gain maximum points in the next three weeks. Bath received four points in the cancellation against Irish.
He said: “We look to these next three weeks coming up with London Irish, Wasps and how we can get 15 points from that three weeks and that is the next goal for us to just concentrate on the games coming up.”
The busy schedule is something the players have been getting used to, helped by the experience of finishing last season with a quick turnaround following the national lockdown.
It’s something that Reid and his teammates can draw upon next year.
He said: “Games came thick and fast during that period. I enjoyed the way the week was set up around the games. Having mid-week games. We couldn’t dwell on what had happened in the game before – we were straight into the next one.
“We were thinking more about ourselves. In the past you look at the team and we didn’t have time to look back so it was all about looking ahead to what we can do in that game.
“I took a lot from that and playing in a semi-final as a younger player was a great experience for me. It was a really valuable time for the likes of Tom de Glanville, Cameron Redpath and myself, so it was great, and I really enjoyed it.”