Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan has issued an ominous injury update on Test stars Santi Carreras and Guy Pepper, detailing that the pair have likely suffered serious blows.

Argentina playmaker Carreras, returning to Kingsholm for the second time since crossing the divide to Bath, came off part-way through the first-half, while England back-rower Pepper was taken off in the second-half.

The blows only rubbed salt into the wound for Van Graan, who saw his side slump to a 23-5 defeat to their bitter rivals on Friday night.

‘I’d be amazed if that wasn’t really bad news’

Carreras’ injury was especially concerning, with the versatile back suffering a non-contact injury after getting his studs caught in the 4G turf, and he was later helped off the pitch by both physios and non-playing members of the Bath squad.

“He’s obviously got to go for a scan,” said head of rugby Van Graan. “I’m not a medical expert, but I’d be amazed if that wasn’t really bad news. It’s gutting for him, and we hope for a bit of grace, but we’ll see what the scan says.”

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The exact nature of his injury was unclear at the time, with concerns it could have been either his ankle or knee, but the HoR confirmed it was the latter.

“It’s his knee. I’ve been in the game for a long time and a non-contact injury, when a player goes down like that; but lets see what the scan says.”

Pepper also seemed to suffer a bad lower limb injury after getting his ankle trapped under a mass of bodies following a carry, and he will also undergo scans.

“It’s similar (with Pepper),” Van Graan added. “He’ll have to go for a scan.”

Pepper’s injury also comes at a bad time for Bath, with the West Country outfit also currently without England international Sam Underhill and Springbok forward Dan du Preez for a little while longer.