Bath and England have been dealt a significant blow after prop Will Stuart suffered a suspected serious achilles injury during his club's Investec Champions Cup victory over Munster. The tighthead is now expected to miss the remainder of Bath's European campaign and is a major doubt for England's 2026 Six Nations plans.
Injury Blow for Club and Country
The incident occurred in the 47th minute of the match at The Rec on Sunday, 7 December 2025, when a scrum collapsed. Stuart required lengthy on-field treatment and was unable to stand as he was helped from the pitch. Bath's head of rugby, Johann van Graan, delivered a grim initial assessment post-match.
"No, he's not in a good way. It looks like it's his achilles," Van Graan stated. "I'm no medical expert, but he couldn't even stand up when he got pulled off the field. I'll receive an update later, but it looks very serious."
This development is a severe setback for England head coach Steve Borthwick, who will now have to plan his Six Nations campaign without one of his key forwards. Stuart has been a mainstay in the England squad, and his absence creates a considerable void in the front-row options.
Bath Dominate in Difficult Conditions
Despite the injury setback, Bath secured an emphatic 40-14 bonus-point win to open their Champions Cup campaign. The home side raced into a 28-0 lead within the first 18 minutes, scoring four tries despite torrential rain that made handling exceptionally difficult.
Van Graan praised his team's adaptability and dominant start. "I think that's one of our better starts that we've had," he said. "At half-time it was important not to let them back in and we won the second half 5-0. What was impressive tonight was the way we adapted. It's pretty dominating when you start 28-0."
The Bath coach highlighted his pack's superiority, particularly in the set-piece. "In the maul we were dominant and I think we had ascendancy in the scrum," he added, before acknowledging the need to manage the game professionally after establishing such a commanding lead.
Munster Rue Costly Errors
For Munster, the match was defined by a disastrous opening quarter. Captain Tadhg Beirne took responsibility for early line-out errors that gifted Bath momentum and territory. "It was a silly error on my part. I lost one and then it was compounded then with a penalty into the corner," Beirne admitted.
Beirne's yellow card during this period was severely punished by Bath, who extended their lead while he was off the field. "My yellow card was punished very severely when I was off the field. It was probably on my shoulders that first 20 minutes unfortunately," the Munster skipper conceded.
Munster's head of rugby, Clayton McMillan, lamented the poor start against a top-quality side. "I feel that we are a better team than what we showed in the first 20 minutes," McMillan said. "You give them that sort of margin and it's going to be difficult to come back."
While he found minor positives in his team's fight for the final 60 minutes, McMillan refused to take solace in a mere damage-limitation exercise. The result leaves Munster with a significant challenge to qualify from their Champions Cup pool.
The focus for Bath, however, will now shift to managing without Will Stuart for the foreseeable future, as the prop faces a lengthy rehabilitation process from what appears to be a season-defining injury.
