Bristol’s Joe Batley Sidelined Until December with Leg Fracture

Bristol Bears lock Joe Batley is anticipated to be unavailable until late December due to a leg fracture. The 28-year-old, who has participated in every minute of Bristol’s six Premiership fixtures this season, sustained the injury two weeks ago during a friendly match for the Bears against Australia A. Batley, a second row, had been scheduled to compete for England A’s team last weekend against Australia A but was withdrawn from the squad prior to the full extent of his injury being identified. Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam commented: “Joe was devastated, it was in the Australia game he took a knock to his leg and thought that he’d be ok. While I was away I got a call from Mark Mapletoft [England A head coach] talking about how well Bats had gone there but he’s not going to be able to make it. He had a scan and he’s got a slight fracture in his leg, so at this stage Bats will be unavailable. We’re hoping it’s not too bad and he should be back maybe [for] the Leicester game.” Bristol is set to face Amptill in their concluding Premiership Rugby Cup pool match of this competition stage on Sunday. This will be followed by a five-day period before the league resumes with an away fixture against Harlequins on Friday, 29 November. Subsequently, the team will commence its Champions Cup campaign, featuring two group stage encounters: a home game against Leinster and an away game versus La Rochelle, prior to their Premiership visit to Leicester on 21 December.