Ewan Richards has the potential to play for England. That is the view of Bath Rugby head of rugby Johann van Graan after the 23-year-old forward played a starring role in the win over Gloucester Rugby on Saturday 11th October.
Ewan Richards starred at lock and scored two tries as Bath Rugby took the derby honours against Gloucester Rugby at The Rec on Saturday 11th October | Photo © Richard Briggs
Yeovil-born Richards made a fine display at lock but capped his performance with two tries as the Blue, Black & White emerged 38-17 victors, having raced into a 28-0 lead in the opening half-hour.
The hosts’ five tries on the day could have been seven, but a Joe Cokanasiga touchdown was ruled out for an earlier knock-on and Kepueli Tuipulotu was held up, although he also knocked on.
“I thought Ewan was fantastic,” said van Graan in his post-match press conference. “That chase for his first try was really, really good.
“Ewan has knocked on the door for quite a while and I think he showed again tonight, playing the 80, that our system works.
“He’s been the PREM Cup captain. He’s led them very, very well but ultimately everybody wants to play in the first team and he certainly took his opportunity tonight.
“I’d say he’s certainly got the potential [to play for England].
“He’s a player that can play four, five, six and eight.
“It’s a squad that we’ve pulled over the last few years that when you get the opportunity, you need to use it because obviously we pre-plan a lot of the selections, so he certainly used his opportunity tonight. And I think that’s what you want in the game.
“That’s also what you want in a squad in a league, guys taking the opportunity. I thought he was fantastic.
“Ewan’s got a high ceiling. He’ll play more and more and more, that’s not for me to say about a high level, but he’s certainly got the talent.”
Despite his excellent showing, Richards did not earn the Pol Roger Performance of the Match award. That went to skipper and fly-half Finn Russell, who produced a magnificent performance, tempered only by a silly sin-binning in the 50th minute.
Van Graan said: “I thought that was a complete performance from a 10. I thought defensively he was excellent tonight, his kicking game.
“He’s so good that you’ve just to expect that of him. He’s just been away from rugby for 10 weeks where he’s been on holiday, he had to regain his fitness and he comes and delivers that.”
The head of rugby was delighted by Bath’s success in what was surely the pick of the PREM’s Derby Weekend fixtures.
He said: “We started the game really well. I thought the first 30 is as technical as we’ve been in a long time. Good set piece, I thought our breakdown work was really good. We played the corners and we scored the bonus point in the first half.
“The yellow card put us under pressure but I thought that at the back end of the yellow card we got control back and when the impacts came we took the game away from them.
“Five points, it’s always a great occasion against Gloucester, that was a beautiful afternoon. The ball got a bit slippery in that second half but very happy with the win and I thought the game was played in a good spirit – good game of rugby.
“We went five-three, both locks [Richards and Ross Molony] had to play 80, so that’s not something that’s happened a lot and, again, credit to our physical performance and our medical team, the fact that both locks can go 80 in a pretty fast-paced Premiership game is testament to them, so very happy with the performance of Ross and Ewan.
“I thought [replacement hooker] Kepu Tuipulotu, that 20 minutes was really, really good tonight. And someone like Neil le Roux has had to wait his time for the last two seasons, he gets six minutes and I thought he was really, really good.
“If you lose your 10 that’s pretty pivotal. Finn’s one of the best players in the world and he was our captain on the evening. He got us off that maul when we just needed the one more number.
“But I thought we remained calm. I thought deG [Tom de Glanville] did really well in just taking his time from a kick-off point of view.
“Tactically we got it spot on, when Finn came back we put on the last four impact guys and then that resulted in some pressure and ultimately that took the game away from them.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get that try off the knock-on and then obviously the last one was a decision just short. So it could’ve been 50 [points] but I was really happy with how we closed the game off.
“As we saw last week from Gloucester [in their 37-35 loss to Northampton Saints on Sunday 5th October], they’re so dangerous and potentially if you let them loose, they get one more opportunity, then they make it difficult for us. But we closed the game down really well on minutes 59 to 80 once Finn was back on the pitch.”
Missing from the Bath line-up was Ben Spencer, who was excellent in the PREM wins over Harlequins and Sale Sharks.
Van Graan said: “With his 50:22 last week [against Sale on Friday 3rd October], you’ll have seen him just touch his ham, it’s just stiff.
“He did training on Thursday but he felt he couldn’t open up. He could kick, he could run, we just felt from a squad point of view it’s not worth taking a risk.
“We’ll see how he is Monday. I expect him to play next week [at Leicester Tigers on Saturday 18th October]. If he’s not ready to go, he’s not ready to go, but I fully expect him to play next week and it was great to have him in the [coaches’] box again tonight.
“He was all smiles so no major concern on Ben’s side and I think it was good he pulled us through those first two weeks and the reinforcements came, and I thought Finn and Santi did really well tonight.”
South Africa international Thomas du Toit made his return to action for the Blue, Black & White in the derby but required some on-field treatment. However, van Graan said the issue did not appear to be serious.
He said: “It’s a bit of an ankle. It’s the same ankle that he had a few weeks ago from the Springboks but I think the fact that he played on and finished the game… I haven’t spoken to Ruaridh [skills coach Ruaridh McConnochie] yet but I think it’s always a good sign when a prop can scrum and can maul at the back end of a game, so I wouldn’t expect something very serious there.”
The head of rugby again showered praise on Henry Arundell. Although the winger failed to score for the first time in Bath colours, his speed and trickery posed Gloucester a lot of problems.
Van Graan said: “He’s coming to the club wanting to get better. I signed him for his out-and-out speed and our first try, the ball that Ollie [Lawrence] put in behind, he outworked the opposition and then threw the ball back in for deG’s try.
“He’s got special ability. The thing that people won’t see is how hard he’s worked over the last 13 weeks since we’ve restarted, on his defence, on his high ball.
“If you think back to the big moment against Sale when he won the ball back, but that’s express speed and it was nice to give him a few minutes at 15 at the back end. He’s obviously part of the plan for the next number of seasons for us and we’ve got good balance on our wings.
“But Henry certainly has got speed and that step of his left when he stepped five or six guys, that doesn’t just happen. That’s real talent and real work off the pitch, so credit to him.”
And van Graan provided another update on injured forwards Ted Hill, Charlie Ewels and Quinn Roux.
He said: “Ted is not as bad as initially feared. If you just look at the footage, he’s recovered well within a week. We’ll see where he’s at in the next week or two. How our medical team does it is incredible.
“Charlie is the worst out of the three. It won’t be until potentially the back end of the autumn that we’ll see Charlie.
“Quinn’s still got a bit of pain, so I don’t really have an update in terms of the week or the weeks. But Charlie will be the longest out of the three.”
Bath are now gearing up for a massive test in Gallagher PREM Round 4 – away to Leicester Tigers on Saturday 18th October.
Van Graan said: “It’s a special place to go to, one of my favourite grounds in the world. Knowledgeable support, of all the clubs in England a club I respect a lot.
“It’ll certainly be a big forward battle, obviously a smaller pitch will be a big kicking game.
“I won’t say too much on selection right now, but we’ve already planned for that one and it’ll be a big test. They’re a tough team up there.”
