Fit-again Miles keen to seize the moment
BATH’s exciting back rower Miles Reid aims to be bigger and better than ever before having just returned from another enforced spell on the sidelines.
Reid says he has put on extra bulk during the two months he was out with an MCL injury but is confident it won’t take anything away from his explosiveness as a player.
The 23-year-old’s appearance against Northampton last weekend was only his second outing for the blue, black and whites since injuring his chest against Exeter in November but he has used his time on the sidelines productively.
“It’s been a weird couple of months. In my first game back from my chest injury (against Newcastle in February), I tore the MCL in my knee. I was on the floor and their prop and someone else fell on my knee in a really awkward position and ripped it a bit. I carried on playing but the next day it didn’t feel too good,” said Reid, who also suffered a facial injury while training with England last summer.
“But I’ve had a lot worse injuries in the past. I’ve had serious knee injuries so to do something smaller it’s a bit easier to handle.
“I always see it as an opportunity to get better in different areas. These couple of injuries have helped me put on a bit more size and I feel that makes a difference in my game now.
“I’m 111 kilos now, so I’ve put on about three kilos. But there’s no point getting heavier but then not being able to move as well or as nimble as you used to be. I have been very keen on that when speaking to the strength and conditioning coaches. I’ve always said to them, I still want to be explosive.”
Reid was one of Bath’s bright sparks at the start of what has been the club’s worst Premiership season ever, before the setback against Chiefs.
Like most of the young homegrown players at the club, he is not old enough to remember how Elvis Seveali’i spared Bath the ignominy of finishing bottom of the Premiership on a nerve-jangling Thursday night in April 2003.
Perhaps Reid and his peers should be shown footage to inspire them, as it’s a fate that could befall Bath for the first time ever unless they manage to overhaul fellow cellar dwellers Worcester and Newcastle in what little remains of the season.
“Everything now is about playing for pride, playing for the boys in the room some of whom who won’t be here next season and playing for the fans who continue to be incredible,” he said.
“Nobody wants to be in the first-ever Bath team that finishes bottom. I’d hate it to end in that way.”
Whatever happens, Bath’s future appears to be in good hands – from a player pool perspective. Reid and fellow former Beechen Cliff pupils – Tom de Glanville and Orlando Bailey – look set for long and distinguished careers at The Rec, with Reid’s 50cap appearance milestone surely the first of many to come his way.
Add in talents like Max Ojomoh – arguably the player of the season – and amidst the gloom of the season there are shafts of light every bit as sharp as Reid’s chiselled features.
“This season has been really tough but one of the promising things has been seeing the young lads come through,” he said.
“Max Ojomoh has been outstanding … so, so good. Would he have got that chance of more people had been fit, we’d been winning these games and we couldn’t experiment? He’s taken his opportunity so well – same with Landy.
“I’ve known those boys and Tommy for a very long time so it’s really special and promising for me going forward.
“I think sub-consciously you put more effort in for boys you’ve grown up around, and I understand how they play, sees trends in their game with things they have done from an early age, so you can play off them.”
Bath’s immediate future will involve a change to the coaching setup with Munster duo, Johann van Graan and JP Ferreira, arriving in the summer.
“I am really excited to park this season and get underway with working with them and brining this team back to life and fighting where we should be with the talent that we’ve got,” said Reid, a keen motor racing enthusiast.
“Next season is such a big opportunity for us. You look at teams like Leicester when they went through that really tough period, and you look at them now and they have really blossomed. You can take massive amount of learnings from times like these.”
Big and bold, that’s how Reid wants Bath to be.