No fixation on Six Nations

Zach Mercer isn’t putting any pressure on himself as the Six Nations rears its head on the rugby horizon. After serving his time as an England “apprentice”, the Bath Rugby back-rower made his full debut off the bench against South Africa in November. He then started what turned out to be a tricky encounter against Japan and was one of several players dropped for the fourth and final Autumn Test against Australia. Having been confined to the Bath bench after a knee knock, Mercer was the standout forward as he started the 21-19 defeat to Worcester Warriors at Sixways on Saturday. Last week, he met up with a group of England hopefuls to undergo physical testing before the Red Rose squad is announced later this month. The Six Nations kicks off the first week of February and Mercer is trying not to fret about whether he will be picked by Eddie Jones, especially now Saracens’ Billy Vunipola and Wasps’ Nathan Hughes are fit again. “I just want to get my head down for Bath and take anything that might happen as it comes,” said the 21-year-old, who scored his side’s only try against Warriors. Mercer admitted he has never been involved in a game like the one on Sixways. Bath ended up with 11 men after Ross Batty was sent off for a dangerous neck roll and fellow replacements Max Lahiff, Lucas Noguera and Aled Brew were sin-binned. After repeated scrums Bryce Heem scored a 98th-minute try for the hosts, converted by Duncan Weir to secure the comeback win. “That’s the first time for most people I think,” Mercer added, when asked if he had ever played in a game like that. “There was a lot of stuff going on [in added time] and probably stuff over my head which I didn’t understand the rules of. It’s just one of those things and it was a high-pressured environment.” Bath were pretty comfortable in the first half; leading 19-3 at the break. Rather than push on for a win which would have seen them fifth in the league table, they are now down to eighth after the weekend’s results. “I put my hands up,” Mercer said. “I gave a penalty away five metres from the try-line thinking the ball was out. “That’s not good enough and it probably did change the momentum of the game. “There were a lot of mistakes out there and it’s something to look at as a team. The boys are all gutted. “It’s a chance lost,” he added. “But credit to Worcester, they came out in the second half as a different team and they put us under pressure. “We wanted three wins from three from this Christmas period. Two isn’t bad, but we have a lot to get better at.”