It is a misty, murky afternoon on the Somerset-Wiltshire border but, inside Bath’s stately home headquarters in Farleigh Hungerford, the clarity of Todd Blackadder’s Christmas message is unmistakable.
“Rugby’s a tough sport,” he says softly. “You’ve got to be really mentally and physically tough to play it well.” Close your eyes and swap the understated Kiwi country boy tones for a harsher rasp and it could be Eddie Jones explaining what separates the great teams from the rest.
The more Bath’s director of rugby talks about the game the less it feels a coincidence that, like Jones, he has breathed extraordinarily fresh life into a previously underperforming squad.
His new club trailed in ninth last season, riven by internal dissent before the owner Bruce Craig’s patience finally snapped. Since Blackadder and his compatriot Tabai Matson turned up to replace the ousted Mike Ford, Bath have won all but two of their Premiership and European games.
Even a depleted Bath side are winning games they would previously have lost, with Saracens the latest victims. The reasons why are slightly mysterious until one listens to Blackadder’s rationale: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team give so much effort in every game. Yes, we’ve lost twice but we’ve absolutely put everything into it. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of.”
If this makes Blackadder sound like any other whip-cracking, gruff southern hemisphere import, do not be fooled. Beneath the personable, silver fox exterior lies the ultimate example of how far hard graft can take someone. How else could a player who failed to make his school first XV rise to become the All Blacks’ captain, leading out greats like Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen before going on to coach Dan Carter and Richie McCaw at the Crusaders? Forget the chandeliers, oak panelling and sweeping grand hall staircase at Bath’s palatial training base and think instead of unflashy Kiwi back-to-basics humility.
It is a product of having to do almost everything the hard way. His parents separated when he was small, his younger brother died in a car crash and his early days were spent on the family dairy farm north of Christchurch as well as working as a security guard, in a freezer works and as a courier.
“I’ve been in many situations where the stars haven’t quite aligned but it hasn’t stopped me persevering. There are no guarantees in life. There’s no rule that says you’re going to win anything. You’ve got earn it. Potential only takes you so far. At some stage someone is going to turn up who’s prepared to work harder than you. If you’ve had your arse kissed your whole life, you’re going to find it bloody tough when the tough get going.”
Bath, in short, have had an injection of age-old Kiwi common sense. Blackadder, for example, did not coach Carter and McCaw for the best part of eight years in Super Rugby without learning what it takes to get better. “I was never a world-class player but I’ve coached a few of them,” Blackadder says. “I don’t think things ever come too easy if you want to be an elite athlete. You’ll have heard stories of Dan Carter kicking since he was a little kid … well, he did that. You’ve got to be talented but you’ve also got to have a really good work ethic.”
For a club that has won virtually nothing since the European Cup win of 1998 recruiting a man like Blackadder is, well, not so much a cunning plan as an essential one. Having previously followed up his Scottish antecedents by playing and coaching at Edinburgh, the 45-year-old has also been pleasantly surprised by the state of Bath, English rugby and those within it.
“I thought I’d be coming into a broken team but it hasn’t felt like that,” he says. “You’ve got so much talent in this country, more so than we have in New Zealand. I’m not saying they’re better players but there’s such a huge talent pool. These guys would play Super Rugby no problem at all.”
He feels the same way about his assistants Toby Booth and Darren Edwards – “They’d be as good as anywhere else in the world” – and also rates some of the set piece expertise in England as superior to that in his homeland.
The downside, as many big-name coaches have found, is the physical toll on leading northern hemisphere international players. George Ford and Jonathan Joseph, it seems, would have struggled to play against Cardiff Blues in the Challenge Cup this weekend even had they wanted to: “I couldn’t put my England players out because they’re buggered. If you keep playing these guys, you’re just going to break them. If we were in the Champions Cup this year, I think we’d probably struggle.”
Unfortunately for those Bath fans vainly hoping Ford will stay beyond the end of the season, the latest news is not encouraging. Blackadder sounds as if he has conceded defeat – “I just want him to really enjoy his la … if it’s going to be his last year at Bath, I want him to enjoy the environment” – but is not downcast. “Ultimately I always want the best for my players and, if that’s not here, then I totally understand that. We’ll move forward regardless because that’s what really good teams do.”
With Francois Louw and Taulupe Faletau itching to return to serious battle, Bath also have other reasons to be cheerful if their current team spirit can be maintained. “You’ve got to take a more holistic approach rather than just getting a chequebook out and trying to buy the team to win a title,” emphasises Blackadder. “The best players don’t always make the best teams.” Past setbacks, as Jones’s England are finding, can also be a potent force. “The failures just make you more determined. No one’s the complete article. The day you think you are is the day you’re finished.”
The ultimate rugby grafter pauses momentarily before delivering his parting shot. “It’s really simple. We want to be in a position to win a competition. I feel this club really wants to do something special and I want to be part of that.”
As with the RFU and Jones, it would seem Bath have picked the perfect man to drive them onwards and upwards.
