[ad_1]
There is “more and more to come” from fly-half Finn Russell at Bath, assistant coach Lee Blackett has said.
The Scotland and British and Irish Lions number 10 joined Bath after the World Cup and made his debut from the bench against Newcastle.
He has since started in the win over Saracens and last week’s last-minute loss to Leicester, kicking 19 points so far for the team.
Bath are currently top of the Premiership table after three rounds.
“Everyone’s really enjoyed him coming in. He’s an outstanding professional, heavily driven and he’s come in with a bang,” Blackett told BBC Radio Bristol.
“I think with Finn, the more everyone gets used to him in the environment, he gets used to the environment. I think we’re going to see more and more from him.
“But already there’s been some big highlight moments and the relationship he’s built with the team and the way he’s at times driving the team has been very impressive from the start.”
Blackett confirmed that England internationals Sam Underhill, Ollie Lawrence and Will Stuart have all returned following the World Cup but there was not yet a date on when they would play for the club.
Stuart and Underhill both started the bronze medal winning-match against Argentina – with Underhill being named man of the match and Lawrence coming on as a replacement.
“Johann (van Graan) especially has talked about treating them as individuals so they’ll all come back I imagine at different points, see what’s best for them,” Blackett said.
Bath remain in pole position in the table despite the narrow loss to the Tigers in torrential rain at the Recreation Ground with 11 points.
They travel to Northampton on Saturday and Blackett said they cannot afford to let any points slip even at this early stage in the season.
“I don’t think last week’s game has taken any confidence away from the group. I think we just feel that we should be better in certain moments,” Blackett said.
“The harder thing with the Premiership this year is there’s 18 games. You cannot let a game go by. That’s probably why we felt really frustrated after the game. It was a game we let go.
“You lose three, four, five on the bounce and you are out of the competition – it’s not like the old Premiership where there were 24 games, 22 games.
“After this weekend, we’re just under a quarter of the way through the season. We’ve got to grasp every opportunity.”
