{"id":1167214,"date":"2026-08-24T19:58:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T19:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1167214\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T19:58:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T19:58:24","slug":"bath-issue-lengthy-injury-update-as-england-star-out-of-opening-fixtures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1167214\/","title":{"rendered":"Bath issue lengthy injury update as England star OUT of opening fixtures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bath<\/a> look set to be without scrum-half Ben Spencer for the opening block of the PREM Rugby season, after he underwent shoulder surgery in the off-season.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 34-year-old back had been managing a shoulder knock at the backend of last season, but following the end of England\u2019s Nations Championship campaign, went under the knife to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n

As a result, he now looks set to miss the opening rounds of the 2026\/27 campaign, which could also leave England head coach Steve Borthwick sweating ahead of the Nations Championship block in October.<\/p>\n

Ben Spencer to miss opening PREM fixtures as England sweat over scrum-half<\/p>\n

\u201cBen had shoulder surgery to address a long-standing issue following the conclusion of England\u2019s summer tour,\u201d the West Country side said, as part of an extended injury update.<\/p>\n

Ex-England star in \u2018final phase\u2019 of recovery after cardiac event as PREM club issues statement<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBen will not be available for the opening rounds of the Gallagher PREM<\/a>. He will return later in the autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spencer is one of several Bath<\/a> players who have undergone procedures on shoulder issues in recent months, namely Louie Hennessey, Will Muir, Sam Underhill, Tom Dunn and Tom de Glanville, who all missed the end of last season.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

But, in pleasing news for head of rugby Johann van Graan, that cohort all seem to be on course for the start of the season.<\/p>\n

Wales international Archie Griffin also missed the end of the regular season with a toe issue, and after an exploratory procedure in the off-season, is set to return to the field during the opening block of the new campaign.<\/p>\n

Rugby Transfers: Racing 92 star returns to NRL, England forward attracts Top 14 interest and Springbok duo targeted<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bath also look set to welcome back Will Stuart and Jaco Coetzee from long-term lay-offs, with the pair back in full training ahead of the new season. Tighthead prop Stuart missed the bulk of last season after rupturing his Achilles, while Coetzee suffered an ACL injury.<\/p>\n

Thompson Cowan and Jack Woods also look set to come back into contention in the near future, after recovering from respective long-term ACL and hamstring injuries.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, England loosehead Beno Obano is working with the club\u2019s medical team after suffering a \u2018significant\u2019 hamstring injury on Test duty against the Springboks, but is preparing for the start of the season.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>PREM Rugby 2026\/27: Squads, fixtures, venues and how to watch confirmed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bath look set to be without scrum-half Ben Spencer for the opening block of the PREM Rugby season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1167215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4102],"tags":[5012,393,225,12,6875,4151,79,16,15],"class_list":["post-1167214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-bath","tag-england","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-premiership","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117152259125335728","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1167214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1167215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1167214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1167214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1167214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}