Alfie Barbeary's 'bolt upright' admission about the key change he made at Bath

Not long after he’d been told his contract wouldn’t be renewed at Bath, Alfie Barbeary turned in a hat-trick of player of the match displays in January. It was the best possible riposte to news that left him “gutted”.

The moustachioed No.8 had endured a stop-start campaign up until that part due to a couple of injury niggles, but began the new year with a bang, delivering standout performances against Exeter in the league and Castres and Edinburgh in the Champions Cup.

His human-wrecking ball approach was a reminder to Johann van Graan, if needed, about why he’d brought Barbeary to The Rec in the first place after Wasps had gone bust.

And Barbeary, who’s now moved to Saracens, says that cussedness on his part contributed to his stunning form.

“What made a good ball carrier is that I’m very unique and I’m quite bolt upright when I carry – although I’m still amazed that some boys hit my face,” explains Barbeary in the latest issue of Rugby Journal.

“But the way the game was going, everyone was saying, ‘you’ve got to get your carry height down, you’ve got to be lower and lower …”

With time for reflection, Barbeary decided he was going to go back to doing his thing.

“I just went, right, we’ll go back to our basics, I’ll start carrying how I used to, I’ll start carrying upright, I’ll be polite to the coach and say, ‘I’m gonna carry bolt upright again, see how that goes.’ And then the form starts coming back, and I started playing better, my carrying was starting to get there, and I am starting to feel like myself again.”

While his form in the second half of last season made a welcome return, it was still not deemed good enough to warrant an England cap.

Playing for England is still the ultimate goal for the 25-year-old from Oxfordshire. “It’s my last real shot at England.”

And if he does get called into camp, Barbeary probably won’t experience the same kind of reception he received from Eddie Jones, who invited him to attend training very early in his pro career.

“I’d only played three or four Prem games at that point, and I got called in for the week, and that was an eye-opener in terms of the standard.

“The first thing Eddie said to me was in front of the whole group. He said, “Lads, it’s the final week, Alfie this is your first camp, and if you don’t train well, it’ll be your f****** last mate’.

“I remember it was followed by just silence. Jack Willis was next to me, just trying not to laugh. So, yeah, that was a weird one. It gave you a taste though, and you wanted more.”