Bath Chronicle

roberts not ready to give up on Wales call

- Daniel Evans Head of Sport @danielevan­s28 | 01225 322300 daniel.evans@reachplc.com

Jamie roberts may be out of the Wales picture for now, but he is determined to produce internatio­nal quality for Bath rugby. The 94-capped centre has arrived from Harlequins and had the rare luxury of a full pre-season of training. He feels sharp and can’t wait to produce in Blue, Black and White the kind of powerful play that has taken him to Six Nations Grand Slams and Lions successes. “When I knew I wasn’t touring in the summer and I was coming to a new environmen­t for a training block of eight to ten weeks I was determined to improve,” he said. “To get fitter, faster stronger and get in peak physical condition to perform at the level I know I can. “Farleigh House has all the facilities for you to grow and improve as a rugby player and I like to think I’ve done that in pre-season. “You can do all the training in the world. It’s about the rugby now.” The 31-year-old doctor’s fitness and leadership skills have not gone unnoticed by his coaches and new teammates. Roberts – who was part of the victorious Lions tour to Australia in 2013 – has a voice usually listened to, whether that’s organising the defence or providing clarity in the pressure situations. He is known as a direct carrier who specialise­s in hard lines, but the brief director of rugby Todd Blackadder has given him is a lot more open-ended than that. Roberts said: “One of the questions I asked when I first arrived was: ‘How do you see me fitting in here?’ “Todd just turned to me and said: ‘Mate, I just want you to give it your best shot and enjoy yourself.’ “There was no prescripti­ve way. It’s about me giving my best attributes to the team, not trying to be something I’m not. “Do what I can do, and do it better than I’ve ever done it. That’s what I’m going to try to do this year and hopefully it helps Bath Rugby win games and, come the end of the season, gets us in the mix for the play-offs.”

Roberts has been “mightily impressed” with new attach coach Girvan Dempsey’s approach and also enjoyed working with backs and skills coach Darren Edwards, who is one of many fellow Welshmen at the club. “Girvan has come from an environmen­t which knows how to win rugby games,” Roberts added. “You can dress rugby up in many different ways, but their [Leinster] brand of rugby wins games at important times. “It’s been interestin­g bouncing ideas off him. I think he sees the game in a similar way to I do, which is nice. “The game is about playing on top of teams, being direct, flooding the line in numbers, the offloading game, not playing too high risk of rugby. “Speed of ball is paramount to everything and that’s a successful footprint to winning rugby.” The fans might not want to hear it, but Roberts is far from done with Wales and, having not worn the red since last autumn, has his mind set on adding to his impressive tally of caps. “That’s one of my main goals this year,” he admitted. “I know I’m not going to get anywhere near it unless I perform in the club jersey. “The only way of performing in the club jersey is being the best profession­al I can and giving everything on a weekend. “I’m sure if I can perform well enough for Bath, Test selection will take care of itself. “It is something I’ve missed massively in the last year. I’m as hungry as ever to fight back for that.”

 ?? PICTURE: Patrick Khachfe/onside Images ?? Jamie Roberts in training with Bath
PICTURE: Patrick Khachfe/onside Images Jamie Roberts in training with Bath

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom