‘This year it’s been amazing. We’ve been able to learn so much quicker’
Todd Blackadder has been waiting two long years for this. When he arrived from Crusaders in the summer of 2016, there were only 35 senior players at Bath Rugby. A year ago, long-term injuries and summer tours meant the coaches had to make do when it came to building for the season ahead. Full packs going at each other in the pursuit of getting better have been a luxury, rather than the norm. This summer there have still been injuries. There always will be in professional rugby. Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Beno obano and Ross Batty have all been long-term absentees. But the long hot summer at Farleigh House has seen as many as 50 players and often more – bolstered by the club’s expanded senior academy – out on the training fields on a daily basis. With new attack coach Girvan dempsey fully settled in, it’s left director for rugby Blackadder buzzing for the 2018/19 campaign. “It’s fantastic,” he said. “At times last season we had a squad of 26. The workloads were pretty heavy, especially during the international windows. “This year it’s been amazing. We’ve been able to learn so much quicker. “Every day we’ve been out there it’s been 15 on 15 and 10 on 10 games. It’s good competition for places and it’s been very competitive. “When it comes to the games now the pressure is on. You know someone’s breathing down your neck and that creates a really good tension in the line-up. “I’m sure by the end of the season everyone will have enough rugby. There will be genuine opportunities and they look like they’re willing to take it. “You can manage workloads and actually look at rotation, rather than everyone playing all the time. “Elliott Stooke pretty much played every minute of every game last year. We just couldn’t give him a rest. “Last year, internally, was a bit of a harrowing experience but what’s come out of that is probably the best pre-season I’ve been involved with. It’s been a fantastic effort from the players. It’s been gold standard. “It’s great to see players who haven’t had a pre-season in a long time training their hearts out. “Jamie Roberts, for example, looks like he’s the fittest he’s ever been as well as all our other internationals.” The lineout drive, exit sets, the potency of the attack and the big C – consistency – are all areas Blackadder wants to improve. In 2017/18, Bath had a disappointing season as they slipped down the league in the winter and crashed out at the pool stage of the European Champions Cup. Two big, bonus-point wins against Gloucester and London Irish at the end of the Premiership saw them salvage Champions Cup rugby for this season thanks to a sixth-placed finish. “our lineout drive has been pretty poor,” the director of rugby admitted. “We’ve put a lot of work into our attack, our counter-attack and exit sets. “I know we’re coaching better. We’re more focused. We’re looking at the make-up of our players, what their strengths are and building the gameplan around that. “Where we’ve moved from last season to this season, hopefully you’ll see that by the time we hit Bristol and the first four weeks of the competition. “We’ll be put under pressure to see if we can really execute, but the way we’ve been playing in training, hopefully we’ll see that.” Blackadder believes the summer recruitment – seven signings including 94-cap Wales international Jamie Roberts and Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Will Chudley – is the right balance to take the squad to the next level. “Bringing in some really good experience has been great for us,” he added. “They’re not only mentors and role models for behaviour and training, but the young guys that have come through have really been training well. “Consistency is certainly driving us in our behaviours at the moment. “Having Girvan in as attack coach will hopefully help us strike better and we have the firepower to do that. “We’re pretty excited about that and have spent a lot of time on parts of our game, trying to build some foundations. “our focus has been getting our strikes right and actually being a genuine threat right across the board, trying to score from set-piece. Hopefully we can transfer that into the games.” After pre-season matches away to Edinburgh and home to Scarlets, the important stuff starts on August 31, at Ashton Gate, when Bristol Bears host Bath Rugby. In round two Bath host Gloucester. Blackadder said: “I don’t think you could have asked for a more exciting start to the Gallagher Premiership season.” And he added: “The derbies against Bristol and Gloucester are always the ones that players and supporters look out for when the fixtures are released, so there’s going to be a lot riding on the first few games.”