Surgery in the summer, absence in September
Ben Spencer went under the knife. That is the line buried inside Bath’s injury bulletin on Monday, and it costs the club its first-choice scrum-half for the start of the 2026/27 Gallagher PREM season.
The 34-year-old had been managing a shoulder problem through the back end of last season. He kept playing. Once England’s Nations Championship campaign was done, he finally had it dealt with.
“Ben had shoulder surgery to address a long-standing issue following the conclusion of England’s summer tour,” the club said. “Ben will not be available for the opening rounds of the Gallagher PREM. He will return later in the autumn.”
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A shoulder ward at the Rec
Spencer is not the only one. Louie Hennessey, Will Muir, Sam Underhill, Tom Dunn and Tom de Glanville all had procedures on shoulder issues in recent months, and all of them missed the closing weeks of last season. The difference is that this group is tracking to be available when the new campaign opens.
Wales international Archie Griffin lost the end of the regular season to a toe problem. An exploratory procedure over the break has him pencilled in to return during the opening block of fixtures.
There is better news still for Johann van Graan. Will Stuart, who ruptured an Achilles and sat out most of last season, is back in full training. So is Jaco Coetzee after an ACL injury. Thompson Cowan and Jack Woods, recovering from an ACL problem and a hamstring problem respectively, are edging back into contention.
Borthwick watching from a distance
The timing matters well beyond the West Country. England reconvene for the Nations Championship block in October, and Steve Borthwick would rather his scrum-half options were playing than rehabbing. A return date as loose as “later in the autumn” sits awkwardly close to that window.
Beno Obano is the other name worth reading twice. The England loosehead picked up what Bath described as a significant hamstring injury on Test duty against the Springboks and is working with the club’s medical team while building towards the season.
Bath begin the new campaign with a treatment room emptier than it was in June. Just not at nine.
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