New arrival at No.9 turns up heat on Cook
STALWART Bath scrumhalf Chris Cook says the arrival of Will Chudley has given him the kick up the backside he needed as he enters the final year of his contract.
Bathonian Cook is desperate to extend his stay but the 27-year-old faces a four-way battle for gametime, with Chudley adding his Premiership-winning nous to a No.9 line-up that also includes Samoan Kahn Fotuali’i and ex-Yorkshire pivot Max Green.
Cook said: “I’ve been at the club a while and maybe you get a bit comfortable, but there’s a lot more competition and I’m going to have to work harder, but I’m relishing the challenge.
“Will’s won the Premiership and been fantastic for a brilliant Exeter side, so that makes you think about your rugby and I feel like I’m going to benefit from the knowledge he’s going to bring in. He’s been excellent in pre-season and he’s a fantastic guy to learn off.”
Cook added: “Will’s brought that winning confidence and fresh ideas with a different way of looking at the game because Exeter play very differently to the way we’ve been doing.
“The more we can get into that winning way the better and it feels like we’ve got a fantastic chance this season and we want to give the club some silverware.
“It’s my tenth year at the club and the last of my contract, so it ups the ante more as I’ve got to perform. I really want to achieve something at this club and it would be great to get a first-team trophy.”
Girvan Dempsey’s arrival from Leinster as Bath’s attack coach is also having an impact, according to Cook, who concedes his side spent too much of last season on the back foot.
Bath were joint-bottom of the ‘jackal’ turnover count along with Northampton, making just 44 in 22 Premiership matches, while their tackle count was higher than most.
Cook explained: “We were near the top of the charts in tackles made and you can’t win games without the ball. Maybe that’s why we had so many injuries as well – you make more tackles, you hurt yourself more – so we want to turn the ball over and get our hands on the ball.
“Exeter set the standards there and Girvan’s come in and given us decent direction with regards to our attack. It’s been a softlysoftly approach so far, just tweaking here and there, but Leinster aren’t a bad side and he’s already started to impart his coaching philosophy on us.”
Cook says last season’s late surge into sixth place provided a welcome injection of confidence.
He added: “It proved that we can do it and that we’ve got that fight in us. You could argue it’s a mental thing but if we can just give 100 per cent of ourselves all the time, like we did in going to Gloucester and posting an impressive bonus-point win, we’re a really good team.
“To finish last season with a bit of confidence, added to our recruitment, means we can go into Europe and other big games this season knowing we can beat anyone.”