Bordeaux-Bagels vs Bath: Isaac Meyers could be called up for the semi-final

Bath could hand 18-year-old prospect Isaac Mears his first-team debut in Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final away to Bordeaux-Bagles after a sudden injury hit their scrum-half stock.

First-choice nine Ben Spencer was initially named in the Bath side to face Harlequins on April 18, but withdrew before kick-off with a shoulder complaint.

Despite Johan van Graan’s early optimism that the England international’s injury was a minor problem, Spencer is only “touch and go” for the club’s first elite European semi-final in 20 years.

Back-up scrum-half Bernard van der Linde underwent ankle surgery after being forced 10 minutes into his first pre-season start against Northampton on Saturday, leaving Tom Carr-Smith as the only fit senior specialist.

Mears, the son of former Bath, England and British and Irish Lions hooker Lee, only signed his first professional contract earlier this month and made his most recent appearance The University of Bath’s all-conquering student side., outsider

Van Graan indicated that, while he promotes Mears to the senior set-up, he is also considering a positional switch to left-field as another way to cover the scrum-half.

The 46-year-old South African tipped the Springboks to victory in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, where their ‘seven-one’ bench gamble without a direct replacement for Faf de Klerk did not pay off in a 12-11 victory.

“One bit that the team knows, but the outside world doesn’t, is we go through multiple situational plays in training sessions throughout the year,” he said.

“In a worst-case scenario, you might see someone playing at nine o’clock that has never played at nine o’clock.

“But if you go back to the World Cup final in 2023, a team decided to go without nine, so there are a lot of different things we can do.

“We have faith that Spenny (Spencer) will be fine at the weekend and whether it’s him or another player, we’ll be fluid and adaptable.

“With an injury you always have two choices – you can feel sorry for yourself or you can make a plan. And this team is exceptional at making plans.”