Bath Rugby host Leicester Tigers at the Recreation Ground on Saturday in Round 18 of the 2025/26 Gallagher PREM
BORDEAUX, FRANCE – MAY 03: Finn Russell of Bath reacts during the Investec Champions Cup semi final match between Union Bordeaux Begles and Bath Rugby at Stade Atlantique Bordeaux Metropole on May 03, 2026 in Bordeaux, France. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Johann van Graan has revealed Bath Rugby’s star fly-half Finn Russell was pulled out of training last week with a calf issue and is a doubt for this weekend’s titanic game with Leicester Tigers.
Scotland star Russell missed Bath’s 22-19 defeat away at Bristol Bears on Friday as the Blue, Black and Whites’ head of rugby looks after his key playmaker’s health, having already secured a spot in the Gallagher PREM semi-finals.
READ MORE: Bath’s mistakes costly but Johann van Graan backs late penalty decision
But heading into the final game of the regular season this weekend, with Tigers coming to the Rec, there is plenty at stake as the winner will walk away with a home semi-final the following Saturday. Northampton Saints’ late 36-32 win against Gloucester means they have already claimed a home semi-final on the Friday night, with their opponents still to be determined.
Famously, no team has ever won the PREM title after finishing in third place in the table, and since the play-offs were introduced in the 2002/03 season, just four sides who finished outside of the top two have gone on to lift the trophy.
Providing an update on Russell on Friday night after the narrow loss to Bristol, which came down to a late missed 56m penalty kick from full-back Santi Carreras, van Graan said: “He has got a tight calf. I pulled him out of training early in the week.
“We have already qualified for a semi-final, which is still two weeks away, so we just made a decision not to risk anything.
“We will assess him through next week and see how he is.
“If we just look at the facts. On the weekend of the 13th, we are playing a semi-final, and we want our best available team ready for then. We will take our time with it and make a decision whether he plays [against Leicester] or we hold him back another week.”
In Russell’s absence, Ciaran Donoghue made just his second appearance of the season against Bristol, having been sidelined for the majority of the campaign with an ACL injury he suffered in pre-season away at Munster.
If Russell is sidelined for a second straight weekend, having made 25 appearances this season for Bath and Scotland, Donoghue, or Argentina international fly-half Carreras, will provide competition for the 10 jersey in what is essentially a quarter-final.
Van Graan added: “It is in our hands and we are playing at home on Saturday.”
Bath Rugby on Whatsapp
Join SomersetLive’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bath Rugby stories sent straight to your phone
SomersetLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.
Through the app, we’ll send the Bath Rugby news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.
To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the SomersetLive team.
We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.