Robinson's delight to be back at Bath

Jon Newcombe finds the club's former captain in fine form as he returns to join coaching team

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TWENTY FIVE years after leading Bath to their Heineken Cup victory, Andy Robinson is back at Bath and loving his new role as academy head coach and first-team contact coach. Much water has passed under Pulteney Bridge since the 1998 epic against Brive, with Robinson being an integral part of England’s World Cup-winning coaching team in 2003 before going on to succeed Clive Woodward in the top job.

Head coach roles with Scotland and Romania followed, with a disappointing spell at Bristol in between, but now he is back with the club that he played 249 games for, as well as coached, and is feeling fulfilled again.

“It is really enjoyable for me to be involved day to day with a club that I have had so many great experiences with and spent my formative years playing here and being very passionate about Bath Rugby winning. So I am absolutely delighted that Johann (van Graan) was keen to get me back,” the 59-year-old, below right, said.

“I have got fulfilment and enjoyment, not only from being able to work with a real quality coaching team but also to see the talent of the players and mould an opinion on them from what I have seen. I have been very pleasantly surprised and delighted to see how certain players have acted.

“As I have tried to explain to everyone, I am here to help everyone as much as possible, for Bath to be a winning team,

“I want to do my little bit whatever that is, if it just making the coffee and I can do that well and the team wins, that is all that matters. The big thing is the players have confidence and belief and are able to perform with each other.”

Bath’s success in the amateur era – the golden decade and a bit that brought six league titles, 10 domestic cups – was built on the competitiveness of training.