LONG READ Alfie Barbeary: 'When I was younger I was painful, I'd have hated to coach me'

Those bemoaning the absence of characters in modern-day rugby union – or finding Henry Pollock just too polarising – need some quality Alfie Barbeary time.

The majestic mop of hair, the broad grin, the refusal to take himself too seriously give the Bath number eight a stand-out presence yet one which remains comfortingly short on self-regard or sharp edges. At 6ft 1in and 18st 4lb, he is part imposing barn door, part warm bath.

Let’s start with the hair. At 24, he is a generation too young to remember the Hair Bear Bunch but he would have cruised the audition. It is a glorious explosion of highlighted curls which Barbeary’s mum – a hairdresser – has given her official seal of approval.

“She loves it all grown out. She has the same hair as me except it’s blonde and longer and she gets quite annoyed when I cut it,” he said.

“It’s an absolute ballache in the morning, it’s honestly horrible to have on your head. I’m not really an early morning person so I don’t sort it out and it can be all over the shop but I said I’d grow it out for her.

“It got too hot training with it last season so I shaved it all off but then I had a couple of concussions at the start of this season and I had fans coming up to me telling me I was like Samson because I’d lost all my powers. I thought: ‘right, I’m going to grow it out again’ and here we are.”

I was chip and chasing in training sessions and when they didn’t pay off I would run away smiling. Lee Blackett was always shouting at me.

What with the moustache addition, the look is attaining cult status. When Bath won the Challenge Cup a fortnight ago at the Principality Stadium, Barbeary celebrated with a group of bewigged supporters doubling as a personal fan club.

“You do see some lads rocking up to the game with the same look, shouting my name. It’s much appreciated. It does put a smile on your face.”

Then there’s the fun-first personality. He has in the past confessed he doesn’t much care for the gym and admitted to some excessive post-match refuelling habits. He wasn’t always overly disciplined on the training pitch either.

“When I first joined Wasps I was painful. I would have hated to have coached me,” he said.

“I was chip and chasing in training sessions and when they didn’t pay off I would run away smiling. Lee Blackett was always shouting at me. I can’t imagine younger Alfie being too easy to coach. I’d say I’m a bit easier to coach now. I’m kicking it less!”

Less maddening maybe but he remains a ray of mischievous sunshine for Blackett and director of rugby Johann van Graan at Bath.

From the outside you would imagine Barbeary and Van Graan, the serious Afrikaner strategist, are chalk and cheese but there is a mutual warmth there.

When Barbeary suffered a brain freeze against Gloucester in March and kicked the ball dead just before half-time thinking the clock was in the red and the Cherry and Whites scored from the possession they had been gifted, Van Graan’s response in the changing room was to give his crestfallen player a reassuring wink.

He is capable of firm words towards his bulldozing back row ball carrier but with the best of intentions.

“Our relationship is very much like father and son. He’s that sort of role model to me,” said Barbeary.

We were trying to explain it to each other and no-one really had a clue if I’m honest until the commentator told us we would be playing Bristol at the end.

“When I’m doing something wrong he will tell me; when I’m doing something right he might tell me!

“He has been incredible with me in the two and a half years I’ve been here. When I first joined he set out exactly what we were going to do and he made me believe in where this club was going. He has got it right so far.”

The turnaround at The Rec since Barbeary joined has been incredible and he hands the credit to Van Graan.

“The fans will probably say Finn Russell but I’m going to have to say it’s Johann. He is the key ingredient,” he said.

“He is so clear with us and the best thing about him is that he goes by the mantra – ‘feel like a family, play like a team’. That’s exactly what we have at Bath.”

The wage bill and the squad size may be the highest in the Premiership but that does not automatically bring success. It can bring its own problems. Bath, under Bruce Craig, have always been high spenders and low achievers. Until now. There is a unity of purpose which has taken them to within two wins of a remarkable treble with the Challenge Cup and Premiership Cup already in the trophy cabinet this season.

“The treble hasn’t really been talked about,” he said. “We’ve just been playing the cards we have been dealt. We have been taking each moment one at a time then starting from zero each week. We loved playing in the Prem Cup, Europe was a very special night and we’re now facing this one.”

They have been the team of the season in England, capable of turning on the style with Russell as their backline orchestrator or beating up opposition with their power up front. That is where Barbeary comes in with his thumping carrying, committing defenders and making the hardest yards for his team.

It earned him a starting spot at eight for England A against Ireland A at Ashton Gate in February and with two England back rows – Ben Earl and Tom Curry – 0n the Lions tour this summer there is an opportunity to grab a place in the senior squad for Argentina and the USA with a big finish to the season. But having been in England camps previously in 2020 and 2022 without winning a cap, Barbeary has no desire to count any chickens.

“What will be will be,” he said. “We have a job here to do with Bath and we’ll go from there.”

I was gutted but me being the non-lineout jumper, I half knew it was coming. It was for the best for the team.

While Bath’s shadow squad were playing Saracens at the weekend with top spot in the league tied up, a rested Barbeary was with his teammates monitoring the final round machinations which would decide their semi-final opponents.

“I’m not the brightest so I had no idea how all the points worked,” he confessed.

“I was watching it with Cam Redpath, Will Butt and Tom de Glanville. We had the Bath game on the telly and we had all different games on our phones. We were trying to explain it to each other and no-one really had a clue if I’m honest until the commentator told us we would be playing Bristol at the end.

“They’ve had a very good season and we have to respect that but we’re trying to focus on us and do all the right things that got us here rather than speak about Bristol. We have to realise we’ve put in the work this season and it’s got us a home semi-final and let’s carry on doing.

“It’s always a special occasion when you play a home semi and it’s going to be one hell of a show.

“Last year the whole scene was incredible. It was amazing to see so many Bath fans and it was a core memory in my Bath Rugby experience.”

While Bath defeated Sale at the same stage last season, they lost to Northampton in a final which turned on the 21st minute dismissal of Beno Obano. Barbeary was the collateral damage from that incident, sacrificed by Van Graan to allow replacement prop Juan Schoeman to come on.

“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “I was gutted but me being the non-lineout jumper, I half knew it was coming. It was for the best for the team. I couldn’t get upset about it. The boys did a hell of a job and we still had an opportunity to win it at the end.”

Nevertheless, the chance to make a proper contribution in a final at Allianz Stadium this season is an individual spur just as a shot at collective redemption after last year’s disappointment is driving the team.

“Last year wasn’t our day but it has always been the goal for us to win the Premiership this season and that’s what we’re looking to do,” said Barbeary.