Bath Bok faces lengthy lay-off
The club's veteran Springbok Francois Louw is expected to be out for three months with a knee injury.
The loose forward tore medial ligaments in the 9-32 defeat to Sale Sharks on December 23.
Bath's Director of Rugby Todd Blackadder told the Bath Chronicle that the injury is "on the serious side".
"[However], it won't need surgery," Blackadder said
Luke Charteris, who recently got over a hamstring problem, is also unavailable to take on Worcester Warriors at Sixways on Friday, as "he can't go on artificial turf".
Sam Underhill is back in full contact training as he continues to work his way back from the concussion he suffered playing for England against Australia in November.
Blackadder admits his team "desperately" need a win against Worcester Warriors at Sixways on Friday.
They lost three league games in a row – to Exeter Chiefs, Sale Sharks and Wasps – to fall to sixth in the league table.
They have one more chance to get back to winning ways and claw back some ground on the top four before Europe and the Anglo-Welsh Cup resume, then the Six Nations kicks in.
With the likes of Francois Louw, Taulupe Faletau, Semesa Rokoduguni, Charlie Ewels, Luke Charteris and Matt Banahan unavailable, plus the fact Bath have lost 10 out of 11 competitive games on artificial pitches like Sixways, it's going to be very tough.
"We really need to show our resilience and get back on track," said the director of rugby.
"We desperately need a really good result, let alone a really good performance."
Source: Bath Chronicle
