Bath have defended their decision to let Finn Russell miss Saturday's defeat by Northampton Saints, with the Scotland fly-half given permission to spend the weekend in New York.

Russell's absence was keenly felt as Bath went down 24-18 to Gloucester at Franklin’s Gardens in the Gallagher Premiership, their second successive league defeat. However, Russell's boss Johan van Graan revealed that a week's break was pre-arranged with all of his players and that he would be back for next weekend's west-country derby against Gloucester.

“Finn will be back for the derby (with Gloucester) and that is the agreement we had from the start that everyone in the squad will have a week away," said Van Graan. "We decided this was the week for Finn and we still have 12 games in a row. We showed against Northampton that irrespective of what team we put out we are good enough to win and, while a few people raised eyebrows (about the decision), with the last play of the game we could have been the victors. If you give Northampton field position they are very good at multi-phase attack and they took one opportunity more than us.”

BATH, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 14: Finn Russell of Bath Rugby looks on during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Bath Rugby and Newcastle Falcons at The Recreation Ground on October 14, 2023 in Bath, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Edinburgh and Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn has been linked with a move to French Top 14 outfit Toulon. Kinghorn, 26, is in the final year of his contract at Edinburgh and the Rugby Paper is reporting that his representatives have held positive discussions over a move to France. Kinghorn has made 135 for the club and is the main No 15 under current head coach Sean Everitt.

Finn Russell's New York holiday defended by Bath as Edinburgh's Blair Kinghorn linked with Toulon move