1
Against all odds, Bath set for 19 stone piece of welcome injury news
By Alex Shaw
Injuries have been taking Bath on a rollercoaster ride of late, with the good news of Taulupe Faletau’s recent return replaced by the frustration of seeing the Welsh international break his arm against Wasps on Saturday.
Faletau has been ruled out of the Six Nations as a result, but Bath are about to be buoyed by the return to fitness of one player they had not expected to see this season.
Beno Obano was set to miss most, if not all of the 2018/19 season with the damage to multiple knee ligaments that he suffered at the end of last season, whilst being part of an England training camp.
The loosehead’s rehabilitation has gone well, however, with the prop back in training now and RugbyPass understand that he is aiming for a February comeback. The home tie against Newcastle Falcons on February 16th, when the Gallagher Premiership resume after European and Premiership Cup breaks, is a possible date for his return, although a trip to Northampton Saints a week later or the home tie with Harlequins at the beginning of March could be more conservative targets.
Obano, 24, had been having an impressive 2017/18 season at club level with Bath, forcing his way into both the Six Nations and summer tour training camps with England, but any hopes he had of making his debut on the South Africa tour were dashed when he was forced to prematurely leave the Brighton training camp with "multiple ligament and hamstring tendon damage".
In Obano’s absence, Bath have leant heavily on Nathan Catt, who is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury, Jacques van Rooyen and Lucas Noguera Paz, whilst Exeter Chiefs loosehead Ben Moon has forced his way into contention with England.
Bath are set to welcome back England centre Jonathan Joseph this weekend against Toulouse, after the back was one of the club’s non-playing reserves against Wasps last Saturday, with Joe Cokanasiga still a few weeks away from action and Anthony Watson not expected to be seen anytime soon.
It was Obano’s injury at the end of last season that sparked the infamous war of words between Bath owner Bruce Craig, who criticised the training methods and intensity of England camps, and Eddie Jones, who responded by labelling Craig the "Donald Trump of rugby".
Watch: Eddie Jones discusses his 35-man squad for the upcoming Six Nations.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
Go to comments