Denton Speaks To Total Sport About Life At Bath Rugby

Bath Rugby's David Denton is settling well into life in Somerset. The Scotland international signed for Mike Ford's side back in November and, ahead of his first start for the club in Sunday's European clash vs Wasps, caught up with Total Sport's Danny Gallagher to talk about his first month at the club.

It's mid-afternoon at Farleigh House when 25-year-old, 6ft 4in David Denton strolls into one of the plush, immaculately furnished kitchen facilities, straight off the back of a vigorous day of high intensity training. He's here to talk with Total Sport about his first month in the colours of Bath and, judging by the broad smile on his face, all is going well.

"It's been a wild month. I had no time to sort somewhere to stay so I was based out at Farleigh for the first two weeks of being here," Denton begins.

"I've just moved into a place in town now, so I've got all my furniture coming in, so it has all been fairly wild.

"Trying to settle into a new place with new systems is made all the harder when you don't have somewhere to base. My bags were packed in the car for the first two weeks, but it's still been awesome. The coaches have been massively helpful and understanding in terms of what I needed to get sorted and play," he adds.

"The facility here at Farleigh House is unbelievable, it's something I have never seen before. I was spolit at Edinburgh, I trained at Murrayfield in the national stadium and that was a great facility, but there is nothing like the set-up here," notes an impressed Denton.

In a hectic month, Denton is now set to get his first start for the Somerset club, in Sunday's crunch European Champions Cup match against Wasps.

"I don't think it was ever going to be a case where I could come down and play the following weekend. I had a lot to get my head around in terms of coming down here, systems, medicals and things like that. But I appreciate the time they have given me and I think I'm ready to make a real impact now," says Denton.

With regards to aims, the Scotland international is training his thoughts solely on the here and now.

"I am focusing on the short term. I want to start getting starts for Bath and getting some momentum for this team and repaying the coaches for the faith they have shown in me, for signing me and in terms of getting me out of my contract with Edinburgh," Denton explains.

"Now I want to show them (the coaches) the fans and, more importantly to me, the players that I am a quality rugby player and that I can make an impact at Bath - and me being here can be positive for the team."

Denton's move to Bath has been somewhat years in the making, with the Zimbabwe-born back row having been contacted by the club before.

"I had actually spoken to Bath a couple of years before and they didn't think I was ready, in terms of a player to make that move to the club," says Denton.

"But (this summer) they thought I have grown a lot as a player, and I think I have grown also, with Adam Solomons at Edinburgh and Vern Cotter at Scotland, and I'm extremely grateful to them for that.

"The big thing the coaches at Bath spoke about in terms of me coming was versatility in the back row and after the signing announcement (of Faletau) that shows the reliability we're going to have to have on that. We're going to have to be able to rotate and move players around. Bath said from the get-go they would look to move me around the back row, not just stay at eight which I'm used to," says Denton.

The 25-year-old's arrival coincided with the exit of Sam Burgess, a highly controversial topic in the rugby world. But, Denton maintains, this had no impact upon his mindset when joining his new club.

"It was all part and parcel. What matters was there was a position that needed filling at one of the premier clubs in Europe and I was obviously delighted to fill that," Denton quickly cleared up. 

Coming off the back of a successful World Cup for both himself and his country, the former Edinburgh man rightly has an air of confidence ahead of his first Bath start.

"This World Cup I think I played some of the best rugby I have played in a long time, and that was largely due to the competition. There are a lot of good back rows in the Scotland set-up, with Adam Ashe and Josh Strauss in direct competition for number eight. They are two quality players and I believe that pushed me to play the quality of rugby that I was playing , and that is what is required to build a good team - you need a lot of good players who are continually competing with each other."

One such World Cup game which earned Denton many plaudits was Scotland's crunch quarter-final tie against Australia - a match he insists is one for the memory scrapbook. 

"In terms of moving about positionally, I'm not bothered. I started my professional career as a six. My first two years at Edinburgh I was a six and it was only playing for Scotland that I moved to eight, so I am happy at both. In terms of the way Bath play, the only real difference is the number on your back - the way the game is played isn't hugely different. I can't be a prima dona and say I want to go to number eight," Denton explains.

"The big thing that Bath are famous for, and I knew this before I came here, is they play a very positive style of rugby. They look to throw the ball about and play, the last couple of weeks we have been shown that the conditions will not always suit that but we have to adapt, and I think people will see a new team in the coming weeks. 

"That's important, you can just fling the ball about from try line to try line, you've got to play percentage rugby at times," Denton adds.

Currently sitting in ninth, Bath find themselves in unfamilar lowly territory. But the new acquisition believes this is something which will soon change.

"It's not where we want to be, there's no two ways about it, we've not had the start to the season we wanted and we're going to have to remedy that. It just means we have less room for error for the rest of the season but I'm confident the squad can pull that back together and get into the playoffs," says the former Edinburgh man.

"That is another thing I picked up here, there is a huge expectation on this team and this town. People expect a lot and they expect you to win and that's an awesome experience to part of, to have such a necessity on why we play the game is to win."

Focused and raring to go for his first start in a Bath jersey, Denton's bow comes very much on the main stage - the European Champions Cup.