Duo in talks to join Bath on short deals
Bath Rugby are in the advanced stages of adding two players to their squad on loan deals, director of rugby Stuart Hooper has confirmed.
Hooper is looking to bring in cover at scrum-half with firstchoice nine Ben Spencer sidelined with a hamstring issue, along with cover in one other position which is likely to be at hooker or second row.
Despite Danny Cipriani being sidelined with a concussion, from which he could return this weekend to face Bristol Bears, and South African Tian Schoeman out with a long-term knee injury until the turn of the year, leaving just Orlando Bailey to cover fly-half last weekend, Hooper confirmed he is not initially looking to bring in another option at stand-off.
Hooper said: “We are relatively far advanced with a couple of loan options that can provide a bit of cover, more so because if you get an injury in those key positions you really are down to the bare bones.
“We are hopefully looking to be able to announce something by the back end of next week.”
Hooper revealed the main element left to agree on is the length of the contracts/loan deals on offer.
He said: “Whenever you bring someone in there is the option of bringing them in for the whole year or on a loan.”
Bath have already seen substantial comings and goings since the beginning of the 2021/22 Gallagher Premiership season just three weeks ago with Fijian international Josh Matavesi leaving for Japan on the eve of the new campaign and backrowers Richard de Carpentier and Tom Cowan joining the club after successful trials.
Injuries at halfback and the makeup of the Bath squad means Hooper was forced to start three relatively inexperienced players across the vital axis of his backline at nine, 10 and 12 in the 20-13 defeat to Newcastle Falcons last week, with Ollie Fox, 22, at scrumhalf, Bailey, 20, at fly-half, and Max Ojomoh, 21, at inside centre.
Discussing the situation, Hooper said: “If you wrote down on a bit of
how you would like to map those guys into the team you would like Orlando Bailey playing with a bit of time outside Ben Spencer or Ollie Fox playing inside Danny Cipriani - all those different combinations.
“But I think those guys have really stood up in training and in the games.
“I thought Max Ojomoh was outstanding against Newcastle both on the ball and off it with some of his unseen work.
“It is a massive, massive learning curve for them, not because they are bad players - they are all outstanding young players, but because the Premiership is a really tough place to place.
“What I love about all three of them is they come in hungry to understand what could have happened differently and what they could have done and they are all learning with every minute on the field.”
The Bath Chornicle understands there is also expected to be another departure in the backline this week with a player joining a Premiership rival on a loan deal.