Hopes up for Russell and Redpath to make returns this season
FINN RUSSELL and Cameron Redpath could play rugby again this season after Bath head coach Johann van Graan was unwilling to rule them out of the run in.
The pair picked up injuries in the defeat to Exeter in the Champions Cup and Bath described them as “significant” in their weekly injury update on Monday.
Van Graan is unsure when they will be back but he refused to say their season was completely over and hopes he can have one of, if not both of them, back for the run in. Bath currently sit second in the Premiership and are hoping to secure a playoff spot that will extend their season beyond their final four matches of the regular campaign.
That starts with fellow playoff contenders Bath and Saracens before facing Newcastle Falcons who sit at the bottom of the table and rounding off against league leaders Northampton Saints on the final day.
Qualifying for the play- offs could give Russell and Redpath time to get back from their groin and ankle injuries respectively.
That could also then have an impact on the Scotland summer tour to the Americas.
Gregor Townsend is expected to take more of a developmental squad to Canada, USA, Uruguay and Chile and Russell is unlikely to be involved but Redpath could still be used for those games.
The Bath head coach said: “The main important bit is we’ve assessed them properly.
“They’ve gone for multiple scans and opinions. I trust Rory to get them back into our team as quickly as possible.
“The reason why we say weekly is it’s two difficult things to put a timescale on. As soon as one or both of them are back, we will select them and for us it’s one focus and that’s the Premiership.
“I’m not going to get myself tied up in the medical terms, I’m just going to stick to groin. He went in to make a poach and was cleaned by two forwards. He made a poach on the goal line a few minutes before so nothing that he could have done technically different and no fault of the cleaners and he injured his groin.
“It was twisted and the injury is what we call significant.
“It’s not anything he’ll run off in five or six days, that’s why we’ve got all the expert advice. We’re going to leave no stone unturned to get him back onto the pitch as soon as we can. He’s a very important player for us so we’ll do all we can to get him back on the pitch as soon as we can.
“From a group point of view, he’s one of the lads. He had a week away with his family and he’s back in the building. He’ll take rehab day by day and hopefully we can get him back on the pitch soon.
“I’m just going to use an example, Sam Harris injured himself on Friday morning in training and that is season- ending. If any of our players have a season- ending injury, we’ll report it. The most important thing is we’re also talking about a person here.
“We’re aligned with Finn, he wants to get back as quickly as possible and whether that’s in a week or six weeks time, as soon as he’s medically ready and rugby ready, he’ll be back. When he’s back, opposition teams will come for him like they do every 10 so I’m very hopeful but from our side we’ll take the pressure on Finn.
“I’ve got the upmost trust in Rory Murray and his team from a medical point of view and Alex Martin and his team from a physical performance. I put all my trust in them and when they say he’s ready to take the field again I’ll put him back out.”