The Japan Times - Injuries add to Bath's challenge for Champions Cup semi in Bordeaux

The English Prem champions have fitness problems in their back division, particularly at scrum-half for the game on Sunday in Bordeaux.

Bath captain Ben Spencer is a doubt for the match. The England scrum-half has not featured since the quarter-final victory over Northampton on April 10 because of a shoulder injury.

Together with fellow Bath backs Cameron Redpath, Max Ojomoh and Joe Cokanasiga, he is rated "touch and go" for the trip to France, with both Bath and Bordeaux chasing domestic and European doubles.

Back-up scrum-half Bernard van der Linde has had surgery on an ankle injury he suffered in Saturday's narrow Prem loss at Northampton.

As a result, Bath could go into the Bordeaux game with Tom Carr Smith as their starting scrum-half and 18-year-old novice Isaac Mears, the son of club great and former England hooker Lee Mears, providing cover off the bench at the Stade Atlantique Bordeaux Metropole.

Mears has yet to make his senior debut for the club and only signed his first professional contract this month.

"You've got to be adaptable," said Bath coach Johann van Graan earlier this week. "Isaac Mears is the next nine (scrum-half) in and we've pulled him out of the England Students, so he's in the group."

Bath's injured players have until Friday's training session to prove their fitness, with the team to be named that day as the club bid for a place in a Bilbao final on May 23 and a first Champions Cup crown since the 1997-98 season.

Bordeaux will be without suspended prop Jefferson Poirot, while coach Yannick Bru is banned from the dug-out on Sunday as punishment for his remarks about the fourth official following a 45-15 thrashing by La Rochelle in France's Top 14.

- 'More strengths than most' -

Matthieu Jalibert was superb directing a back-line featuring outstanding France wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey in the 30-15 Champions Cup quarter-final win over domestic rivals Toulouse. The fly-half said afterwards: "We know that when we come with speed, even the biggest teams struggle to defend against us...We haven't won anything yet, but we've earned the right to go after the double."

Bath prop Beno Obano, whose team-mates include Scotland fly-half Finn Russell, Argentina back Santiago Carreras and Springbok prop Thomas du Toit, admitted: "Every team has weaknesses -- we have weaknesses -- but the team that we're coming up against has more strengths than most."

Saturday's semi-final between Leinster and Toulon is a clash of European heavyweights. The clubs boast seven Champions Cup titles between them -- four for the Irish province and three for the French side.

Leinster are into their sixth consecutive semi-final and a fifth straight with home advantage in Dublin.

By contrast, Saturday's match will be Toulon's first semi-final since 2015 -- the year they completed a three-peat of Champions Cup triumphs. Toulon, however, have won all four of their previous matches against Leinster.

"It's definitely a massive game because we haven't played a game of this calibre for a long time," said Toulon wing Gael Drean.

Leinster have only missed the semi-finals once since the last of their Champions Cup titles in 2018 -- a quarter-final loss to Saracens in 2020 -- but have suffered four final defeats and two semi-final reverses in that time, including last year's agonising 37-34 last-four loss to Northampton.

"We were all sat there in that changing room thinking 'we'd love another crack at a semi-final'," said Leinster and Ireland wing Tommy O'Brien.

"We all would've done anything to get a crack at it again, so we're very excited to give it a lash again."

T.Ikeda--JT