European Champions Cup

Bath allay Eastmond injury fears

ESPN Staff

England's Eastmond went off injured for the second successive week © Getty Images Enlarge

Head coach Mike Ford was quick to quell fears about England centre Kyle Eastmond's injury after Bath beat Glasgow to qualify for the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup.

Eastmond hobbled off in the opening minutes, and will now be scanned by the England medical team in the next couple of days after reporting for Six Nations duty.

"Kyle came off last week with a shoulder (knock), and he's just taken another knock," said Ford. "He says he is fine, and we don't think it is too bad. The doctor was pretty adamant that he had to come off, and it was the right thing to do."

Two second-half penalty tries were central to Bath's victory as their forward pack dominated Glasgow after the break. They became the first side - along with Wasps - to qualify for the quarter-finals of Europe's top competition despite having lost both their opening games.

"They played well, Glasgow," Ford said. "They threw a few shots at us and put us off our game a little bit. We couldn't get our lineout going in the first-half, they scored a very good try and they were in front a couple of times. We didn't play as best we can, but we found a way to win. Our forwards were very dominant.

"They were attacking our line near the end, and it's just those close margins. We were on the right end of it today. In October, we lost our first two games, and now we are pool winners. It's a great achievement, especially when you have got the likes of Montpellier and Toulouse in your group.

"Glasgow are a good side, and Gregor Townsend is a great coach. He has done a fantastic job with them, and he could be sitting here as the winning coach today, but luckily it's us. At the end of the day, this club wants to play in the big games, and the quarter-final of the Champions Cup away from home is going to be a huge game. It is our next step. Last week (against Toulouse) you saw the dash. This week, you saw the grunt."

PRO12 title contenders Glasgow bowed out of Europe, but they again underlined how much progress they are making under Townsend.

"I was really proud of the players' efforts and how we aspired to play the game, taking on the opposition with ball in hand," Townsend said. "We know what a dangerous team Bath are, and for the most part we were well in place with the way we defended.

"Today showed what a great competition this is. It went right to the wire. We have come up against three top sides in Toulouse, Montpellier and Bath, and I felt we gave a really good picture of the team we are and what we need to do to get to that next level."

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