Dave Attwood on returning to a Bath 'moving in a much better direction'
Dave Attwood rejoined Bath after three years with Bristol Bears
©Patrick Khachfe | Onside Images
It has only been three years since Dave Attwood left Bath Rugby for the promise of horizons new with Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate.
During his time back with the club he started his career at, Attwood and his teammates finished in the top three of the Gallagher Premiership twice and win the Challenge Cup, while Bath’s performances have seen them go from playoff side to bottom of the league.
Looking on from afar with different employers, Attwood clearly new some of what ailed the side which had previously paid his wages.
In a 2021 interview in the Daily Mail, the 35-year-old compared the two sides, describing Bristol as ‘forward thinking’ and Bath as looking more to what they had done in the past rather than the reality they were now faced with.
“I think the city of Bath has a memory that seems to identify very much with [Jeremy] Guscott and [Nigel] Redman and these kind of guys,” Attwood said, “and there is a disassociation between what was going on back then and what is going on right now.
“It is very frustrating as a current player, sitting in the stands, listening to fans taking about that kind of rugby and how we should be doing that – it is a different game now. I think that hanging over us has bled into a lot of things that the club has done.
“This group of players is incredibly young and they don’t seem particularly phased by that. They have got some very exciting talent, and if some of those guys can mature this season, then it is going to be a good year for us.”
It is the young group of players and the new coaching staff, led by Johann van Graan, that has now led to plenty of optimism surrounding the new season. It was announced in March that Attwood would be returning to the city he, in fact, never left.
Commuting from his home in Bath to training with Bears, partway through last season Attwood learnt that as a result of the salary cap restructure, he would have to find somewhere else to ply his trade.
Clearly having a special place in his heart for Bath, it was as a result of Ed Griffiths’ short spell with the club, firstly as a consultant and then as chairman in the New Year. Having also been the chief executive of Saracens, Griffiths has a reputation for being hands-on, putting the players first and making culture one of the focal points.
“I had confidence that Ed Griffiths’ involvement would be a real, positive change for the culture of the club,” Attwood said. “Ultimately, my conversations with Johann made me feel like the club was going to be moving into a much better direction than it finished off last season in.
“When things didn’t work out with the changes in the salary cap structure and all the political stuff over at Bristol, it was a very easy decision to start that conversation over here.”
What had Griffiths’ done in particular that made him think Bath had changed?
“To be honest, I can’t answer that really honestly because I wasn’t here underneath him,” Attwood said. “I had heard conversations from other players, and it seemed like the impact he had meant the players were enjoying the dressing room.
“I think that was something that was a real problem at Bath for a while. It felt like the players didn’t love coming to work. The rhetoric I heard around Ed’s involvement was that had very much changed.
“The lads were enjoying spending a bit more time together, the cliques had dissolved, and people were working together in a much more collaborative manner. That made me think this club is moving in the right direction, and I am not scared to throw my hat in for that.”
There is a positive feel as Bath head down for a training session the same afternoon as this interview was conducted. Plenty of smiles are on faces, but as soon as the whistle is blown, it is all business, Attwood not taking part in the training session, but watching on, itching to be involved.
Along with returning to a refreshed Farleigh House, Attwood has been handed extra responsibilities. Joking that he has been brought in for his focus on the set piece, Attwood will be helping to run the lineout from a coaching perspective, trying to find a way to break teams down alongside lineout coach, Luke Charteris.
At the start of the interview at Farleigh House, Attwood made a throwaway comment that some his boots were older than some of his new teammates.
Having begun to play professional rugby in 2005 with Bristol, it is only a slight exaggeration. In his 17th season as a professional, Attwood has very much seen it all.
But it is sparingly for any rugby player that they walk into a squad stacked with so many young academy products. Last season we saw Orlando Bailey come to the fore, the young fly-half thrust into regular first team rugby by virtue of injuries to Danny Cirpriani and Tian Schoeman.
We also saw Max Ojomoh, Miles Reid, Josh Bayliss and Ewan Richards gain more first team experience, as well as international recognition from both England and Scotland. These are the players who will no doubt be charged with taking Van Graan’s vision forward, those who will drive standards for years to come as a core of Bath rugby players.
“Ironically, the last time I really felt like this was the season I left Gloucester [2010/11],” Attwood said. “With a young Freddie Burns, Henry Trinder, Jonny May, Ollie Morgan, the youth of that team; there is so much talent in here, if things can really gel well up front, then these young guys can really blossom into an outstanding team.
“All of those guys, individually, have gone on to great things, but it didn’t all culminate at that time. I think that was largely due to the ineffectiveness of out pack that season. I think if we had delivered more for them up front, they’d of had a bit more go forward ball and they’ve have turned into a dominant force in the Premiership.
“We have got so many young guys that offer so much, if we can give them front foot ball and they can stay together, then there is going to be many years of dominant Bath performances.”
Bath’s Premiership campaign starts this Friday night against Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate. A West Country derby to start the season for two clubs who struggled for large periods of last season.
With each having made changes – Bath’s more significant than their opponents – it will be an engaging start to a new season with optimism renewed across the board.
