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Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Somerset:
“It was a crazy game of rugby once again, Bath versus Exeter. We started the game really well but then they came out punching after half-time and scored three unanswered tries.
“But then that’s why this game is a 23-man effort as we then came back with the impact of our eight (subs) who made a really good difference, so I’m really happy with the five points.
“We’re very proud of our bench and numbers 16 to 23 at this club are just as important as numbers one to 15.”
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter told BBC Radio Devon:
“The important emotion is I’m walking away going ‘we’ve got a team here and we’ve got something to work with’.
“Last week was such a patchy performance (losing 45-24 to Gloucester) but today we showed a lot of good qualities.
“The qualities of being in a fight to the death, that’s what Exeter Chiefs are about. Do you want to be perfect or do you want to be in a fight every single week? Well we’ll be in a fight every single week.
“I’m quite happy with that, that’s what we’re good at and I saw that today.”
Bath: Donoghue; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Redpath, de Glanville; Russell, van der Linde; Obano, Dunn, Stuart, Roux, Ewels (capt), Richards, Pepper, du Preez.
Replacements: Frost, Kirk, Griffin, Hill, Reid, Carr-Smith, Ojomoh, Coetzee.
Brown’s two goals were just reward for a player who has been quietly impressive for far longer than this campaign, and he was part of a back-five which stood out in what was a third consecutive clean sheet.
Brodie Spencer and Terry Devlin were drafted in at the full-back positions and both impressed, but Brown’s centre-back partners McConville and Tom Atcheson really shone.
Norwich City defender McConville, 21, commanded his area well and, as well as an assist for Brown, he also allowed the ball to trickle over the line when he could have touched home for the third goal instead of his team-mate.
Atcheson, himself only 20 and playing for Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, made his Northern Ireland debut in Wales in March, but showed composure beyond his years.
O’Neill said both players were “terrific” as he told BBC Sport: “They have no ceiling, to be honest.
“They are both playing in the Championship at the minute but they are ready to go to the next level.
“They will make mistakes at times and we’ve put a lot on them in terms of the physicality. The two of them were brilliant.”
O’Neill was also delighted for Brown, who said he had “really grown” into a senior role in the absence of injured Sunderland defender Dan Ballard.
“Three 90 minutes at this level is tough,” said O’Neill of the 28-year-old.
“He plays his club football in League One and he’s a better player than that.
“He brings a lot to the team. He was our most senior player tonight and he has really grown into that.”
Star receiver Puka Nacua will play against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Philadelphia, but star defensive lineman Aaron Donald is out because of a back issue, Rams coach Sean McVay said Friday.
Donald, a three-time defensive player of the year, has not practiced this week following the Rams’ loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday in Denver. McVay said Donald, 35, was experiencing back soreness.
“He’s as tough as it gets. Just not feeling good enough,” McVay said, adding, “He would do it and he could probably go be productive but part of our job is to protect these tough dudes like him from themselves.”
Donald has played in two games since ending a two-year retirement in late August. He did not make the trip to Australia for the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, but made three tackles in the Rams’ 28-6 victory over the New York Giants at SoFi Stadium.
Donald had one tackle and one quarterback hit in the 30-26 loss to the Broncos.
“He’s working as hard as he can to get himself feeling as good as possible and we’re hopeful and optimistic that good days are ahead,” McVay said.
Nacua sat out the last two games because of a hip injury that caused hip, groin and abdominal soreness.
McVay said Nacua has been “strong, looks sturdy, looks explosive,” during practice this week.
“I think it will really just be a feel for the overall conditioning,” McVay said, adding that he hopes “the magic of the [game] jersey” will help Nacua have a productive game against the Eagles.
Tight end Terrance Ferguson (ankle) and cornerback Jaylen Watson (shoulder) will not play on Sunday, McVay said. Tight end Colby Parkinson (shoulder, knee) and edge rusher Josaiah Stewart (groin) are questionable.
Rams place Terrance Ferguson on injured reserve
Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson jogs back to the locker room against the Giants on Sept. 21.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
The Rams opened the season with five tight ends on the roster, which some might have regarded as a surplus.
But the Rams need the depth.
On Friday, the team put Terrance Ferguson on injured reserve because of an ankle injury.
Ferguson, a 2025 second-round draft pick, was injured Sept. 21 against the Giants, but he played through it against the Broncos.
Ferguson has seven catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Ferguson must sit out at least the next four games against the Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders. He is eligible to return for the Nov. 1 game against the Chargers.
The Rams began the season with five tight ends on the roster. Tyler Higbee and Davis Allen are at full strength. Max Klare, a second-round draft pick from Michigan, could get his first action on offense against the Eagles.
Rams release punt returner Xavier Smith
Rams wide receiver Xavier Smith runs the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs during a preseason game in August.
(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
What a difference a day makes.
Less than 24 hours after Rams special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said the team was not going to replace punt returner Xavier Smith, the team released him.
“We just need better production out of that position,” McVay said, adding that some of the “decisions” that Smith made in last Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos proved costly.
“We’ve got to make better decisions,” McVay said. “We’ve got to be able to field it.”
Receiver Alex Bachman is expected to be promoted from the practice squad to handle punt returns. McVay said he was “optimistic that I think we’re going to see some good stuff from Alex on Sunday.”
Smith, 29, is a third-year pro who signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent and worked his way into a role as a kick returner and rotational receiver.
Smith appeared to be on his way to overcoming a major error in last season’s NFC championship game, when he lost a fumble in the 31-27 defeat by the Seattle Seahawks.
But through three games, Ventrone on Thursday described Smith’s performance as “inconsistent.”
“We need to do a better job of tracking the ball, judging the ball, fielding the ball when necessary, not fielding it in other situations,” Ventrone told reporters. “He knows that and hopefully we’ll get the improvements that we need in that area.”
Ventrone was asked if there was any thought about replacing Smith as the punt returner.
“No, we have a lot of trust in ‘X’, I really do,” Ventrone said. “He’s put in a lot of time and effort in training camp and obviously moving into the season. I think that he’ll do the necessary things to be able to sustain at that position for us.”
But on Friday morning, the Rams announced they had waived Smith.
McVay said the Rams “weren’t thinking” about making a change when Ventrone spoke to reporters Thursday.
“As you get a chance to kind of take a step back, evaluate the totality of our group, what’s the best way to try to be able to put together all three phases, did feel like that was in the best interest of the group,” McVay said, adding, “and that decision was made kind of later [Thursday night].”
Lhuan-dre Pretorius has broken Chris Gayle’s record for the highest score in a men’s T20 match with an unbeaten 188 in a domestic fixture in South Africa.
The 20-year-old South African’s knock off 79 deliveries, including 13 sixes and 15 fours, helped Titans post 267-3 against Knights in the CSA T20 Challenge.
It eclipsed the 175 made by Gayle for Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Bengaluru) against Pune Warriors in the 2013 Indian Premier League.
Pretorius, who has played 17 T20s, three one-dayers and two Tests for South Africa, finished with a strike rate of 237.97.
He made his half-century off 24 balls but only required 16 more balls to get to three figures and then got to 150 off just 58 deliveries.
Titans then bowled out Knights for 143 to wrap up an emphatic 124-run victory at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.
