Doughty proud to captain
New Team Bath BUCS Super Rugby captain Tom Doughty says it will be “a massive honour” to wear the armband during the 2018/19 season. The all-action hooker, a sports performance student at the University of Bath, takes over from graduate Will Britton – both have signed academy forms with Bath Rugby this summer. “It’s a massive honour to be made captain, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” said Doughty. “I love leading the boys out and it helps my performance individually as well. “I worked with Will Britton in the leadership group last year and learnt a lot from him. Hopefully I can fill his boots and lead the boys out well.” Doughty is one of 60 student rugby players who are now two weeks into pre-season training ahead of the new BUCS Super Rugby campaign, which starts with a home match at the University’s Sports Training Village on Wednesday, September 26 (6.30pm). Team Bath were inconsistent in the league during 2017/18 but improved as the year went on and reached the semi-finals of the endof-season BUCS Championship knock-out competition – something Doughty is aiming to improve on. “We have a really strong squad this year,” he said. “There are a lot of boys who have been in and around the first team over the past couple of years and we have had a good intake of new players. There is the strong link to Bath Rugby Academy as well. “We have reached the knockout semi-finals in the last two years but we believe we can go better this time round. “We pride ourselves on being a tight-knit group and the boys who have come in this summer have bought into that culture straight away.” The season concludes in March when old rivals Loughborough come to the Sports Training Village for what is always a big match. There are nine home league matches in total following Cardiff University’s promotion to the elite national competition, and one of them will take place at the worldfamous Recreation Ground on a date to be confirmed. The two previous Anniversary Games – marking the University of Bath receiving its Royal Charter in 1966 – have been enjoyed by a combined crowd of more than 10,000 spectators.