'Bath is a massive club and rugby is in the fabric of the city... I love it here'
If Girvan Dempsey didn’t take the plunge in summer 2018 he would be in Italy this weekend, helping to supervise Leinster as their latest Guinness PRO14 season gets underway at Treviso. Instead, there are no trips on the agenda this Saturday, the Rec being just a short spin from home into town for Bath’s latest Premiership Cup fixture versus Worcester.
His day won’t be fully consumed by all things English. There is the small matter of Ireland’s World Cup clash versus Japan which the former Test full-back will be keeping his eye on some hours earlier.
A veteran himself of two World Cup campaigns, the fortunes of an Irish squad with a large Leinster contingent was always going to be of interest even though Dempsey is just as clued into how Bath’s players are faring with the two-from-two England in the Far East.
His one big hope, though, is that Johnny Sexton is only temporarily off his feet and will be back in harness later in the tournament after sitting out this weekend’s showdown with the host nation.
“Ireland are genuinely in a strong position,” he told RugbyPass. “They have openly made it known they want to achieve a semi-final position which is massively within their potential. The squad depth has grown but there are still positions where you look at key personnel who are going to be imperative to the squad succeeding.
Ireland promised after 2015 they would not be caught winging it at the 2019 RWC with an inexperienced out-half starting at No10 in a big match in place of Johnny Sexton, but they have not delivered on that aim https://t.co/Y2QThUAiJW
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 27, 2019
“Having worked with Johnny Sexton and knowing him as a player and how competitive he is and how driven he is, he will want to succeed, he will want to be successful and he will want to have a successful World Cup campaign by ultimately putting them into position to get to semi-finals and final. He is a big driver for them.
“They have the potential, they have the players that have won on big occasions, won trophies and they know what it takes to beat the All Blacks. I have no doubt that Joe Schmidt and the coaches will have them well prepared and I’m massively excited.
“I have very much a massive interest in the England team as well in terms of the five Bath guys who are in their squad. I’m hoping they will go well but if they cross paths at any stage it will be fairly obvious which direction I will be cheering.”
Dempsey is loving his decision to trade places, swopping the all-conquering giant that is Leinster for a club trying to rekindle the dominance on the English scene it once used to enjoy. He could have stayed in Dublin, could have watched the trophies keep on rolling in, but there was something about Stuart Hooper’s pitch in 2018 that proved irresistible at a time when the coach’s Irish province were wallowing in the warm glow of a European and PRO14 double.
“Bath is a massive club and rugby is in the fabric of the city, where the ground is, the fans, everything. It’s incredible. On match day the city just comes alive and it is such an amazing buzz around the place. The ambition is to roll it back to the highs, back to being competitive and ultimately trying to win trophies.
“Stuart Hooper is a Bath man through and through. He played and captained the club and just his passion for the club is massive. I see huge similarities between Stuart and Leo Cullen in terms of their journey through the system of a club, playing and captaining and having that love for the club.
“Stuart is no different in that he is really passionate about bringing this club forward, bringing it back to the successful days and striving to achieve with the club. That is the big thing. From my initial first meeting with him, I could see that and I saw this was something I wanted to be part of because you could see his plan, his vision for where the club wanted to go.
“Being with Leinster for so long, it’s a well-oiled machine from the age-grade right through to the senior team. Structures are in place and you are quite sure of how the whole thing works, culturally and rugby wise. It’s all pretty much set whereas in another club you deal with different players from different backgrounds, different environments, different set-ups, different club competitions. It’s challenging in different ways.
A couple of Irishmen who were winning trophies for their provinces 13 years ago held centrestage at Wednesday's Gallagher Premiership 2019/20 season launch
https://t.co/Bff6NOlNXx— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 12, 2019
“That is what I wanted to do. I wanted to grow as a coach because I am committed to coaching. I love what I do and I am very fortunate and privileged to do what I do, but I wanted to challenge myself and in order to develop and grow as a coach I needed to step outside the bubble and to go and look at other opportunities.
“Opportunities were presented to me and this, for us as a family, was the best fit in terms of what we were looking for. You worry about our two boys but they adapted pretty quickly, settled in, made a new circle of friends and absolutely love it. It’s a change of environment, change of scenery living away from Ireland, which is unique for both myself and Anne-Marie. We never lived away from Dublin before. It’s a real experience for both of us but we actually love it here. It has been brilliant.
“Having listened to the ambition of the club and where it wanted to go in the future, it was a no-brainer (to come over). Really good systems in place, a good club with a strong history of rugby but it just hasn’t hit the highs of years gone by. They really want to grow and achieve, and we feel we have made huge steps and strides along that way in the last year.”
The Gallagher Premiership doesn’t swing into action until Bath take the short hop to Bristol on October 18. It’s typical of the English league – nearly all the away grounds are within touching distance and while Dempsey won’t knock the constant air travel involved in the PRO14 as he believes airports and hotels have their uses in building close-knit squad bonds, the challenge of doing well with Bath has him invigorated.
“As a competition, it is highly, highly competitive. I was aware of what it was before, but it is pretty relentless in terms of there is a big match every week and that is what it is, the next week is another big match and then another big match.
“It showed last year in terms of the season and the league standings. You saw from position one to position ten it’s competitive. You had Exeter and Sarries who were the outliers, who were the high performers that everyone was striving to chase, but outside of that when you looked at third position right down to 10th or 11th, one win and you could be up in the top four and one loss and you were back down in seventh or eighth.
“There was this see-saw effect because teams were so competitive that they were taking points off each other. Within the league, it is a big match every week and it is very much relentless in that. With the way the international set-up is in Ireland and the structure in the provinces, the squad rotation is not the same in the competition over here.”
With a young family, there are certainly easier ways to earn a living away from an intense results-based industry. But Dempsey is a new breed of coach who has stepped from the playing field and fitted seamlessly into a tracksuit. He just can’t escape that match day buzz.
“It’s that competitive edge, that innate competitiveness in me and within the group, within working with close knit squads,” he explained. “You know that you are always chasing that high, that big day, that big game atmosphere. Look at the first round this year and we have got Bristol away on Friday night and again it is going to be big, a 30,000 crowd. It’s a huge game and then we have them back to Twickenham for The Clash which is an incredible atmosphere, incredible occasion.
“You live for those big days, you live for those big moments, those big in-game moments and those wins. That is what drives me. There is always that player development within me that always loves to see players succeed and see players grow and develop. We have got a young squad and to see the growth within some of those guys, the leadership that they have taken on board in the last 12 months, is massively exciting and encouraging and the potential within the squad is huge and it is up to us to drive that forward.
“Ultimately that is what it is, that two prongs of desire to see people and players achieve their potential but also my competitiveness, I’m looking for those big days and the highs of that big win.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments