Bath Rugby

Bath Rugby

Full name	Bath Rugby
Union	Somerset RFU
Founded	1865; 159 years ago (1865)
Location	Bath, Somerset, England
Ground(s)	The Recreation Ground (Capacity: 14,509)
Director of Rugby	Johann van Graan
Captain(s)	Ben Spencer
Most caps	Phil Hall (580)
Top scorer	Jon Callard (2,087)
Most tries	Tony Swift (161)
League(s)	Premiership Rugby
2022–23	8th
1st kit 2nd kit European kit
Largest win
Bath 84–7 1996–97 National Division One[1]
Largest defeat
Gloucester 64–0 Bath (Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester) 30 April 2022[1]
Official website
www.bathrugby.com

Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.

Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the

in the city centre. Bath Rugby is one of the most successful clubs in England having won 18 major trophies. It was particularly successful between 1984 and 1998 when it won 10 . In , the continent's second tier of competition. Bath is one of only three clubs never to have been relegated from the top division of English rugby.

For the

.

The current Head of Rugby is Johann van Graan, who started in July 2022.

History

Amateur era

Bath Football Club is one of the oldest clubs in existence, having been founded in 1865 by members of

regularly appearing in the fixture list. With a traditionally lightweight pack, they would suffer regular defeats. The club played its first fixture against overseas opposition in 1907, as Racing Club de Bordelais crossed the Channel to play at the Rec. 1954 saw a first overseas tour by Bath, who beat the French teams St Claude (23–3). Givors (9–6) and Tour du Pin (17–0).

The trip was repeated the following year with wins against St Claude (13–8), Dijon (14–0) and Macon (8–3) as captain Peter Sibley was the first to develop the ethos for fast, attacking rugby in the Sixties.

With six-foot four-inch players such as England international back row David Gay, Peter Heindorff, Sibley had players with physique to impose this style of play. With the mercurial John Horton and the incisive Mike Beese, the side continued to develop Bath's reputation in the early Seventies with wins over the top Welsh sides. However, the revolution began with the arrival of coach Jack Rowell in 1978. Rowell transformed the ethos of a club that had traditionally drawn its players from the immediate locality. When formalised competitions started in the 1980s Jack Rowell brought premature professionalism to Bath and began to assemble a side with power and precision. The power, provided by Gareth Chilcott and Roger Spurrell was complemented by the precision of John Horton and winger David Trick.

By 1984, the first of ten knock-out cup successes had been achieved, at the expense of Bristol. Bath dominated the John Player Cup winning it four years on a trot, from 1984 to 1987. The cup sponsor changed to Pilkington, and Bath after a blip in 1988 dominated that cup as well winning it a further six times.

The

at Twickenham which Bath won 10–6 to become the first English club to wrap up the double of winning both League and Cup.

1990 saw the last of six consecutive Twickenham final wins, defeating Gloucester 48–6.

1993–94 saw a unique "Grand Slam" of titles. In addition to the league (played on a home and away basis for the first time), the team won the Pilkington Cup (beating Leicester, with tries from Tony Swift and a youthful Mike Catt), the Middlesex Sevens (beating Orrell in the Final) and the Worthington Tens. Arguably the most "professional" amateur club side in English history, Bath has struggled to match the achievements of the Eighties and early Nineties.

In May 1996, Bath Rugby and Wigan RLFC made history by playing against each other at both codes. The first match was at Maine Road, Manchester under League rules and saw Bath struggle, eventually losing 82–6. In the return fixture under Union rules at Twickenham, Bath were able to regain a measure of pride by beating Wigan 44–19.

Professional era

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (October 2021)

Heineken Cup

)

scoring all the points for Bath.

Despite European glory, Bath slumped to sixth in the league the next season. In the disastrous league campaign of 2002–03, relegation was avoided by only a single point on the last day.

Having narrowly avoided relegation and merger with bitter rivals

.

Bath finished 4th at the end of the 2004–05 season. The club reached the

.

By the end of the 2004–05 season, Coach John Connolly had announced his intention to return to his native Australia, having created one of the most dominant packs in club rugby. The appointment of ex-England National Academy Manager

fold as attack coach for the England team.

Well known Bath players from the recent history of the club include Jeremy Guscott; Dan Lyle, one of the first Americans to play regularly in Britain; England captain Phil de Glanville; and Andy Robinson, an assistant coach of the Rugby World Cup – winning England side, who went on to be the England team's head coach and head coach of Scotland.

Throughout the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons, Bath Rugby played in the Heineken Cup – a European cup tournament. In 2006 they controversially defeated Leicester Tigers in the quarter finals at a sold out Walkers' Stadium in Leicester, being reduced to 13 men for the last ten minutes of the match for continual infringements at the scrummage. Bath then went on to lose the semi-finals against Biarritz. As they finished 9th in the league that year, Bath were ineligible for the 2006–07 HC competition, instead contesting the European Challenge Cup.

Bath were forced to find a new coaching team in the summer of 2006 after head coach Brian Ashton joined the England national team, forwards coach Michael Foley returned to Australia and skills coach Richard Graham joined Saracens. Backs coach, Steve Meehan, was appointed the new acting head coach.^[3] His appointment was later made permanent.

In 2008 Bath won their first silverware in 10 years, beating Worcester to win the

. After defeat in the 2003 and 2007 finals, it was third time lucky for the English team who ground out an impressive win over Worcester Warriors at Kingsholm. Outgoing skipper Steve Borthwick led by example and was a tower of strength in the lineout on his way to becoming FedEx Man of the match. Borthwick, who went on to join Saracens the following season, was carried aloft by his jubilant teammates after a titanic tussle in appalling conditions. Worcester won the toss and opted to play with the wind at their backs in the first period. It mattered not as Bath dominated possession and territory in the first quarter, and deservedly took the lead on 15 minutes with an Olly Barkley penalty. Barkley went on to score a second penalty a drop goal and a conversion, but it was tries from Jonny Fa'amatuainu and Nick Abendanon that put the game beyond the reach of brave Worcester. Bath won 24–16.

On 14 April 2010, Bath Rugby announced a change of ownership and set out new plans for the future of the club,^[4] including a proposal to create a new club headquarters at Farleigh House^[5] and a commitment to build a new 20,000–25,000-seat stadium.

In 2011 the new owners brought in Gary Gold as head coach to replace the short-lived Ian McGeechan, who had briefly replaced Meehan. After a poor first season Gold was promoted to a director of rugby while defence coach Mike Ford became head coach. In December 2013 Gold left the club under unclear circumstances.

After a disappointing season seeing Bath finish 9th in the table, Mike Ford left the club at the end of the 2015–2016 season after an in depth review of the club was carried out,^[6] Neal Hatley joined Eddie Jones with the England team^[7] and Danny Grewcock left as Bath's Academy Director.^[8] On the 28 July 2016 Bath announced that Todd Blackadder would be taking over as director of rugby and Tabai Matson as head coach.^[9] This would see Blackadder reportedly signing a 3-year deal and Matson a 4-year deal.

Ahead of the 2022–23 season, South African coach Johann van Graan joined Bath from Irish provincial rugby club Munster on a long-term contract.^[10] Van Graan was originally set to be working under Stuart Hooper, who had been Director of Rugby since 2019. However, after Bath's catastrophic 64-0 loss to rivals Gloucester Rugby near the end of their historically poor 2021-22 season (where they finished bottom), the plans suddenly changed. Hooper was transitioned from Director of Rugby to the new role of General Manager, with Van Graan now given the title of Head of Rugby.^[11]

Van Graan turned Bath around in his first season. The team's improvement in form over the course of the campaign culminated with a 4 match winning streak at seasons end. A 61-29 thrashing of

Signings such as Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill were hailed as huge difference makers in van Grann's first season as Head of Rugby. The squad was bolstered further ahead of the 2023-2024 campaign by the arrivals of World Cup winner and South Africa international Thomas du Toit and Scotland and British and Irish Lions fly-half Finn Russell. The backroom staff was also entirely overhauled. JP Ferreira had followed Van Graan from Munster in 2022, but Bath also added former Wasps head coach Lee Blackett, former Leicester coach Richard Blaze, and their own former head coach Andy Robinson to the coaching team for the 2023-24 season.^[13]

Budget

Year	Turnover	Profit/(Loss) before tax
2009–10	£8,832k	£(1,259)k
2010–11	£9,613k	£(1,820)k
2011–12	£10,291k	£(2,790)k
2012–13	£10,617k	£(3,777)k
2013–14	£11,772k	£(2,975)k
2014–15	£14,634k	£(1,106)k
2015–16	£16,869k	£(1,201)k
2016–17	£18,576k	£(2,567)k
2017–18	£19,806k	£(3,149)k

Supporters

The official supporters' club of Bath Rugby was formed in January 1997.^[14]

Stadium

Recreation Ground

.

Bath play at the

Development of the Rec

Main article:

Recreation Ground (Bath)

In November 2009 the new chief executive, Nick Blofeld, stated the club is now seeking a mostly seated stadium for 20,000 to suit modern professional rugby, with potential for future expansion, containing "restaurants and cafés, hospitality suites, conference facilities and good food and beverage outlets and other potential retail outlets".^[16]

The issue of the charitable status of the Rec has prevented progress, but in 2013 the Charity Commission recommended a scheme to allow the club's former training ground at Lambridge to be exchanged for an extended footprint on the Rec free from the charitable rules. While a few appeals remain to be heard, the club is pushing on with designs for an 18,500-seat stadium, and intends to apply for planning permission in 2014.^[17]

The First Tier Tribunal decided to limit the land available to the club which has meant that pending leave to appeal the club's development plans have had to be put on ice. As a result, the club has put in a planning application to extend its capacity to 14,000 on a temporary basis for next two seasons to cover their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2015.^[18]

After being successful with recent planning applications, the club has been able to increase capacity by 1,000 for the 2016/17 season onwards – taking the capacity to 14,500 spectators for home games. The works took place during the 2016 off-season and saw the West Stand partially demolished and improved facilities provided, including bars, food outlets and toilets. The new consents will last for four years and will enable Bath to focus solely on resolution of a permanent redevelopment solution for the Rec, without on-going debate around temporary stands during this period. Permanent development proposals are intended to be brought forward long before the expiry of the four-year period.^[19]

Au updated decision in December 2016 from the Charity First-Tier Tribunal relating to a revised Scheme for the governance of the Bath Recreation Ground, including the use of the Recreation Ground site, was said by the club to "re-open the door to redevelopment at the Rec".^[20]

Twickenham Stadium

Between the

The 2017 match had an attendance of 61,868, and the 2018 match had 60,880 spectators.

Current kit

Between 2020 and 2023, the kit was supplied by Macron. On the front of the shirt, Dyson is at the centre. Compeed appears on the left sleeve. On the back of the shirt, Thatchers is at the top with Avon Protection on top of the squad number and Grant UK at the bottom. On the back of the shorts, Dyson (who is also at the centre on the front of the shirt) is on the top while on the bottom, the Bendac Group is on the left and Your Red Car is on the right.

Castore are the kit supplier from the 2023–24 season.

Season summaries

	Premiership				Domestic Cup		European Cup
Season	Competition	Final Position	Points	Play-Offs	Competition	Performance	Competition	Performance
1987–88	Courage League Division 1	4th	30	N/A	John Player Cup	Quarter-final	No competition	N/A
1988–89	Courage League Division 1	1st	20		Pilkington Cup	Champions
1989–90	Courage League Division 1	3rd	16		Pilkington Cup	Champions
1990–91	Courage League Division 1	1st	22		Pilkington Cup	3rd round
1991–92	Courage League Division 1	1st	21		Pilkington Cup	Champions
1992–93	Courage League Division 1	1st	22		Pilkington Cup	3rd round
1993–94	Courage League Division 1	1st	31		Pilkington Cup	Champions
1994–95	Courage League Division 1	2nd	27		Pilkington Cup	Champions
1995–96	Courage League Division 1	1st	31		Pilkington Cup	Champions	No English teams	N/A
1996–97	Courage League Division 1	2nd	31		Pilkington Cup	5th round	Heineken Cup	Quarter-final
1997–98	Allied Dunbar Premiership	3rd	26		Tetley's Bitter Cup	5th round	Heineken Cup	Champions
					C&G Cup	Pool Stage
1998–99	Allied Dunbar Premiership	6th	30		Tetley's Bitter Cup	4th round	No English teams	N/A
					C&G Cup	Quarter-final
1999–00	Allied Dunbar Premiership	2nd	43		Tetley's Bitter Cup	4th round	Heineken Cup	2nd in pool
2000–01	Zurich Premiership	3rd	70	Finalist*	Tetley's Bitter Cup	4th round	Heineken Cup	2nd in pool
2001–02	Zurich Premiership	11th	33	–*	Powergen Cup	6th round	Heineken Cup	Quarter-final
2002–03	Zurich Premiership	11th	36	–	Powergen Cup	Quarter-final	Challenge Cup	Runners–up
2003–04	Zurich Premiership	1st	79	Runners-up	Powergen Cup	Quarter-final	Challenge Cup	Semi-final
2004–05	Zurich Premiership	4th	58	–	Powergen Cup	Runners-up	Heineken Cup	2nd in pool
2005–06	Guinness Premiership	9th	46	–	Powergen Cup	Semi-final	Heineken Cup	Semi-final
2006–07	Guinness Premiership	8th	45	–	EDF Energy Cup	4th in pool	Challenge Cup	Runners-up
2007–08	Guinness Premiership	3rd	69	Semi-final	EDF Energy Cup	4th in pool	Challenge Cup	Champions
2008–09	Guinness Premiership	4th	65	Semi-final	EDF Energy Cup	3rd in pool	Heineken Cup	Quarter-final
2009–10	Guinness Premiership	4th	61	Semi-final	LV= Cup	3rd in pool	Heineken Cup	4th in pool
2010–11	Aviva Premiership	5th	62	–	LV= Cup	3rd in pool	Heineken Cup	3rd in pool
2011–12	Aviva Premiership	8th	44	–	LV= Cup	Semi-final	Heineken Cup	3rd in pool
2012–13	Aviva Premiership	7th	53	–	LV= Cup	Semi-final	Challenge Cup	Quarter-final
2013–14	Aviva Premiership	5th	67	–	LV= Cup	Semi-final	Challenge Cup	Runners-up
2014–15	Aviva Premiership	2nd	75	Runners-up	LV= Cup	4th in pool	Champions Cup	Quarter-final
2015–16	Aviva Premiership	9th	48	–	No competition	N/A	Champions Cup	3rd in pool
2016–17	Aviva Premiership	5th	59	–	Anglo-Welsh Cup	4th in pool	Challenge Cup	Semi-final
2017–18	Aviva Premiership	6th	56	–	Anglo-Welsh Cup	Runners-up	Champions Cup	3rd in pool
2018–19	Gallagher Premiership	6th	56	–	Premiership Cup	3rd in pool	Champions Cup	3rd in pool
2019-20	Gallagher Premiership	4th	67	Semi-final	Premiership Cup	3rd in pool	Champions Cup	4th in pool
2020-21	Gallagher Premiership	7th	52	–	No competition	N/A	Champions Cup	Pool stage
							Challenge Cup	Semi-final
2021-22	Gallagher Premiership	13th	34	–	Premiership Cup	5th in pool	Champions Cup	11th in pool
							Challenge Cup	Round of 16
2022–23	Gallagher Premiership	8th	47	–	Premiership Cup	4th in pool	Challenge Cup	Pool stage
2023–24	Gallagher Premiership	-	-	–	Premiership Cup	-	Champions Cup	-

* In 2000–01 and 2001–02 the play offs were a separate competition with the champion still determined by the league table.
Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Pink background denotes relegated

Last Season attendances

	2022-23
Round	Team	Attendance	Stadium
Round 2	Sale Sharks	11,704	Recreation Ground
Round 5	Gloucester	13,162	Recreation Ground
Round 7	Northampton Saints	13,412	Recreation Ground
Round 10	Leicester Tigers	13,058	Recreation Ground
Round 12	Harlequins	14,509	Recreation Ground
Round 14	Newcastle Falcons	14,000	Recreation Ground
Round 17	London Irish	14,509	Recreation Ground
Round 18	Bristol Bears	14,509	Recreation Ground
Round 21	Exeter Chiefs	13,543	Recreation Ground
Round 24	Saracens	14,509	Recreation Ground

Club honours

Bath Rugby

• Premiership Rugby
  • Champions: (6) 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96
  • Runners–Up: (2) 2003–04, 2014–15
• European Rugby Champions Cup
  • Champions: (1) 1997–98
• European Challenge Cup
  • Champions: (1) 2007–08
  • Runners–Up: (3) 2002–03, 2006–07, 2013–14
• Premiership Rugby Cup
  • Champions: (10)
    1995–96
  • Runners–Up: (2) 2004–05, 2017–18
• Somerset Senior Cup (tiers 4–7)
  • Champions: (6) 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1982–83

Bath United

• Premiership Rugby Shield
  • Champions: (1) 2013–14

Friendly

• Middlesex Sevens
  • Champions: (1) 1994

Current squad

The Bath Rugby squad for the 2023–24 season is:^[22][23][a]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Niall Annett Hooker Ireland Tom Dunn Hooker England Hame Faiva Hooker Italy John Stewart Hooker England Arthur Cordwell Prop England Thomas du Toit Prop South Africa Archie Griffin Prop Wales Johannes Jonker Prop South Africa Beno Obano Prop England Juan Schoeman Prop South Africa Will Stuart Prop England Kieran Verden Prop England Jacques du Plessis Lock South Africa Charlie Ewels Lock England Josh McNally Lock England Ewan Richards Lock England Quinn Roux Lock Ireland Alfie Barbeary Back row England Josh Bayliss Back row Scotland Chris Cloete Back row South Africa Jaco Coetzee Back row South Africa Ted Hill Back row England Fergus Lee-Warner Back row Australia Nahum Merigan Back row England Miles Reid Back row England JJ Tonks Back row England Sam Underhill Back row England GJ van Velze Back row South Africa

Player Position Union Tom Carr-Smith Scrum-half England Neil le Roux Scrum-half South Africa Louis Schreuder Scrum-half South Africa Ben Spencer Scrum-half England Orlando Bailey Fly-half England Finn Russell Fly-half Scotland George Worboys Fly-half England Will Butt Centre England Ollie Lawrence Centre England Max Ojomoh Centre England Cameron Redpath Centre Scotland Louie Hennessey Centre Wales Max Wright Wing England Joe Cokanasiga Wing England Gabe Goss Wing England Regan Grace Wing Wales Will Muir Wing England Tom de Glanville Fullback England Matt Gallagher Fullback England Ruaridh McConnochie Fullback England Brendan Owen [a] Fullback South Africa Sam Harris Fullback England

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Academy squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Scott Kirk Hooker England Max Pearce Hooker England Jasper Spandler Hooker England Ioan Emanuel Prop Wales Billy Sela Prop England Archie Stanley Prop England Mikey Summerfield Prop England Jack Bennett Lock England Rory Cameron Lock England Harvey Cuckson Lock England Josh Dingley Lock England Eddie Erkine Lock England Will Jeanes Lock England Daniel Marais Lock South Africa Abdul-Khalik Akenzua Al-Kareem Back row England Thompson Cowan Back row Wales Ciaran Donoghue Back row England Mackenzie Graham Back row England Arthur Green Back row England Ethan Staddon Back row England George Timmins Back row England

Player Position Union Ieuan Davies Scrum-half Wales Murdoch Lock Scrum-half England Raff Weston Fly-half England Louie Hennessey Centre Wales Rory Crum Centre England Will Parry Centre England James Short Centre England Byron Lloyd-Gilmour Wing England Luke Graham Fullback England Sam Harris Fullback England

Club staff

Role[25]	Name
Head of Rugby	Johann van Graan
Defence Coach	JP Ferreira
Assistant coach	Lee Blackett
Assistant coach	Richard Blaze
Scrum Coach	Stevie Scott
Skills Coach	Ryan Davis
Academy manager	Craig Lilley

Notable former players

Lions Tourists

The following Bath players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club:

• Frederick Belson (1899)
• Ron Rogers (1904)
• Jeremy Guscott (1989, 1993 & 1997)
• Gareth Chilcott (1989)
• Andy Robinson (1989)
• Stuart Barnes (1993)
• Ben Clarke (1993)
• Andy Reed (1993)
• Mark Regan (1997)
• Mike Catt (1997 & 2001)
• Nigel Redman (1997)
• Iain Balshaw (2001)
• Matt Perry (2001
  )
• Matt Stevens (2005
  )
• Danny Grewcock (2005)
• Lee Mears (2009)
• Taulupe Faletau (2017 & 2021)
• Jonathan Joseph (2017)
• Anthony Watson (2017 & 2021)

Rugby World Cup

The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup, whilst playing for Bath, players in bold won the tournament:

Tournament	Players selected	England players	Other national team players
1987	6	David Egerton, Jon Hall, Nigel Redman, Richard Hill
1991	4	Nigel Redman, Richard Hill, Jeremy Guscott, Jonathan Webb
1995	12	Jonathan Callard, Phil de Glanville, Mike Catt, Steve Ojomoh, Victor Ubogu	Simon Geoghegan , Dave Hilton, Eric Peters
1999	7	Victor Ubogu, Phil de Glanville, Jeremy Guscott, Mike Catt, Matt Perry	Kevin Maggs , Dan Lyle
2003	6	Iain Balshaw, Mike Tindall, Mike Catt, Danny Grewcock	Kevin Maggs , Simon Danielli
2007	6	Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Steve Borthwick, Olly Barkley, Nick Abendanon	Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu
2011	7	David Wilson, Lee Mears, Lewis Moody, Matt Banahan	Chris Biller , Anthony Perenise , Francois Louw
2015	12	Rob Webber, David Wilson, George Ford, Sam Burgess, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson	Alafoti Faosiliva , Francois Louw , Horacio Agulla
2019	6	Sam Underhill, Jonathan Joseph, Joe Cokanasiga, Ruaridh McConnochie, Anthony Watson	Francois Louw
2023	5	Ollie Lawrence, Will Stuart, Sam Underhill	Cameron Redpath, Finn Russell

Past club captains

Only includes players appointed club captain for the season. Individual game captains are not included.

• 2022–24 Ben Spencer
• 2019–22 Charlie Ewels
• 2017–19 Matt Garvey
• 2016–17 Guy Mercer
• 2011–16 Stuart Hooper
• 2010–11 Luke Watson
• 2009–10 Michael Claassens
• 2008–09 Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett
• 2005–08 Steve Borthwick
• 2003–05 Jonathan Humphreys
• 2002–03 Danny Grewcock
• 2001–02 Dan Lyle

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Supporters Website
• Come On My Lovers
• Bath's All Time Premiership Stats@Statbunker
• Premiership Rugby Official Website