England centre Kyle Eastmond excels on return to Bath Rugby fold

Comments (0)

Kyle Eastmond seems to have put last month’s walk-out at Sale Sharks behind him following an exceptional display in the Amlin Cup on Saturday.

The England centre reportedly left Bath’s LV= Cup clash at the AJ Bell Stadium on November 8 at half-time. Eastmond, who hails from Oldham, was replaced by Matt Banahan at the interval and a story in The Times stated that he had driven home during the game.

Eastmond was disciplined by the club for the incident and missed Bath’s next three first-team games.

The 24-year-old returned to first-team action in last weekend’s victory at Mogliano and followed it up with an outstanding display on Saturday as Bath romped to a 63-0 win in the reverse match against the Italians.

Eastmond’s dazzling footwork caused the visitors problems all afternoon at The Rec and he was at the heart of a host of Bath’s 11 tries.

Head coach Mike Ford praised Eastmond’s performance and backed his man to get even better when the Aviva Premiership returns this weekend.

“Kyle has been very, very good in the last two to three weeks. In training he’s been exceptional and today we saw some of the things that Kyle can do,” said Ford.

“He made some good decisions, some nice breaks, and some nice passes.

“Kyle will play better against the better teams, without question. The quicker the line speed that comes towards him the quicker he will make his decisions. The ability to make the right decision under pressure is what Kyle is all about.

“He’s been very good for us.”

Eastmond earned his first two England caps in the summer tour of Argentina but did not feature in any of November’s QBE internationals.

Ford, a former England defence coach, believes Eastmond is still highly regarded within the Red Rose camp.

“He got injured early doors, then we played in the rain and then he wasn’t in the first team for a couple of weeks,” said Ford.

“As far as I know he’s very well thought of in the England camp. He’s still in the EPS squad, and unless there’s a change I think he’ll still be there.”

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24339698

England centre Kyle Eastmond excels on return to Bath Rugby fold