The Bath-born European Tour golfer, who finished in the top 20 last year, is a season ticket holder at the Rec, but opted for the All Blacks when it came to his international loyalty.  

Laurie Canter shares the story of his rugby life...

I went to the Rec from about the age of two with my dad. I think, at the time, under fours could go with the parents for free and just sit on their lap. I think my dad was still carrying me into games claiming I was under four until I was about seven. As we used to get close to the gate’s he’d be like, ‘right, hop on my back’. Eventually he had to succumb and buy me a season ticket too. We started off in the open stand, but he operated on one of the players [he’s a surgeon], so they did him a solid and got him a couple of tickets in the covered stand. I think it was about a 20-year-waiting list for that stand back then.

My hero was Matt Perry. He was the first player I can remember being obsessed with, he had a lot of caps for England but I think he’s really underrated player. Obviously, Guscott was like royalty in Bath, but Matt Perry was the first guy I remember being completely obsessed with as a kid. And then he moved about eight doors down from us, so I used fan boy him a lot. I liked Adedayo Adebayo too, he was massive but had an incredible sidestep.

I didn’t go the European Cup final. But I remember watching it on telly at a friend’s house. I was about nine and I remember it being really tight [Bath beat Brive 19-18], and we kicked a lot of penalties [four, by Callard, to go with his try and conversion]. 

It was great growing up with success. But I think it’s all becoming a bit of a burden now: Bath fans are becoming a bit like Arsenal football’s now. There’s an expectation there that I don’t think is realistic. Rugby has evolved, all the teams are so evenly matched, you don’t see sides dominate like Bath used to. It’s rare you see a team get fifty points past them – although Saracens did put seventy past Bath [17-71] the other day!

Bath were so strong. I watched an interview with Brian Moore the other day and he was saying that there were only two teams he’d never beat away from home, one was the All Blacks, the other was Bath. It made me realise how that team was back then. I think Bath will always be held in high esteem, but, as I said, I do wonder if it’s a burden for the players now...

You always used to see the players around Bath. You’d see them in a shop or filling up with petrol, that was one of the things that made Bath good. That was what was cool, it wasn’t uncommon to see Jeremy Guscott or Jon Callard having a coffee. But you don’t see the players anymore, they train at Farleigh House and most of them don’t live in Bath. I don’t know how connected they feel to the city anymore to be honest, but that could just be part and parcel of professionalism.

If you’re an away fan, Bath is the best place to go. You get a train in, you’re right in the city, then you walk through the really nice part of Bath to get to the ground, you can make a really nice weekend of it. Keeping the stadium there has kept the intimacy, I think the atmosphere’s great.

I wouldn’t say the Rec is particularly hostile. I’ve always thought we could make it a bit harder for the away fans, although I do hear the changing rooms are a bit small. There’s certain teams that make it tough [for away sides], like Gloucester, but even at The Stoop they’re more hostile than us! I think it’s just a very respectful crowd.

I’ve enjoyed watching Bristol. Even though they’re rivals, I like the way they play and even though they’re having a rocky time, they’re still playing the same way. I like the players they’ve signed too, I think they’ve brought a lot to the league – I long for some of that style at the Rec.

I was given a sport scholarship for tennis. Everyone had always been worried me getting injured, but I got a scholarship and went to this school where the director of sport saw my hand-eye co-ordination and threw me in at fly-half. It was my first game, and I basically just got hit with a big tackle in first five minutes and I still remember how much it hurt. I got up from it a bit dazed and from then onwards I was passing the ball every time, just hospital balls to my inside centre all game.

Banners [Banahan], is such a golf nause. I met him at a golf club about seven years ago and just got on with him. Sometimes it's nice, when you're a sportsman, to be in and round other sportsmen – if you're struggling, or things aren’t going well, they get it, and know how to talk to you.  It can be a really healthy thing to have those sort of things.

I’ve sort of used Banners as a bit of a role model. I’d never say this to his face, but a lot of the things he’s done – and it wouldn’t necessarily jump off the page when you see Matt, but I think, in terms of priorities in his life, I think he's got it all pretty much figured out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’s been economical with his playing schedule to maximise his time on the golf course. But, in terms of his connection with family, how he’d approach his job, he went out to enjoy it, I think he had the right ethos. 

Front rowers are always going to struggle with golf. Especially with their shoulders, some of them can’t even lift their arms up very far. I’ve asked Flats [David Flatman] and he can't move his elbow above his shoulders, it’s insane, so they’re going to be quite limited as to how good they can get at golf. But the scrum-halfs and wingers, the guys that don’t do loads of tackles, they’re really good athletes.

I’ve played a bit with Chris Cook and Ben Spencer. And they're amazing athletes really, they’re so strong but obviously move well, and they’re obviously sportsman so that their hand-to-eye is really good. Matt [Banahan] is like that. He’s off scratch now, but when I first met him, he was off 10 or 11 and I said to him, ‘when the rugby finishes, it would not surprise me if you end up as a three or four handicap’, and he sort of laughed. But now he's there and I think he’ll probably end up playing county golf, he plays enough of it. 

I really like the look of Max Ojomoh and Orlando Bailey. And then we’ve got Spencer at nine, he’s going to be a great player in four or five years and we can base a lot of stuff around him, he’s a world-class nine. If he can foster a relationship with some of the guys outside of him, and then you’ve got [Anthony] Watson when he’s fit at fullback, and we’ve two awesome role models for the rest of the backline to work around.

I love Tom Dunn. I love watching him, he makes about thirty tackles a game, he’s good at all of the bits of the game he needs to do, I like him as a player and I like what he’s about – I don’t know why our pack doesn’t dominate, I think our pack should do better.

My dad’s a Kiwi, so I supported the All Blacks. I used to love them, you can’t not. We did a New Zealand tour before the 2003 Rugby World Cup, when England won [15-13] and dad’s taken me to that part of the world quite a lot, and always impressing the rugby heritage on me, sending me clips of Super Rugby, saying that’s how the game should be played.

Christian Cullen was my New Zealand Matt Perry. He was my favourite All Black, I obviously like full backs. He was a special player.

I think golf is physically behind rugby. In terms the preparation and that kind of stuff, we could learn a lot from rugby on that front. But I think we're ahead of it in terms of the mental preparation. Golfers, for a long, long time, have done a lot of visualisation, a lot of planning around, ‘if this happens, I do this, if that happens, I do this...’.  Having chatted to people in other sports, I feel the mental skills that golfers have are more evolved than the others to be honest.

Ryan Fox is built like a shithouse. Being the son of Grant Fox, he’s the obvious golfer that could play rugby. He’s a really, really strong bloke, hits it miles, and kind of looks like he could play any position, he’s a brilliant athlete.

We’re getting more tall people playing golf. Traditionally it was, ‘if you’re over 6ft, it’s more difficult’ because it was seen as better if your arms are down by your body for golf and all that bollocks, that old thinking. But there’s a couple of guys on tour who are 6ft 8in/6ft 9in, and they’d make pretty decent second rows.

I’ve got a season ticket for Bath. But golf means I don’t get down much, although I’m there for Boxing Day when we play Gloucester. That said, judging by the next two games we have, we could go there on the back of nine straight losses, so I’m not sure how happy the place will be if we don’t beat Gloucester.

 
 

This weekend’s winners chosen by Laurie Canter 

  • Oh, I hate this, I don’t want to do this, I can’t bag my team like this, my heart says Bath, but on form it’s got to be a comfortable Leinster win. Home win: 50-10

  • Cardiff have got no players have they? I’m going to say... Away win: 18-35

  • Ospreys have got players, they’re alright, and Sale aren’t doing so well... Home win: 25-15

  • Again, Munster have no players, so I’m going Wasps. Home win: 18-12

  • Saracens will beat them, they’ve got Marlie Packer! Home win: 45-30

  • Bristol will win, big score. Away win: 10-70

Last week’s predictions

How did comedian Hal Cruttenden get on?

Hal said: Saracens 28-16 Bristol (women)
What happened: 17-12

Hal said: Gloucester-Hartpury 35-10 Loughborough Lightning (women)
What happened: 31-33

Hal said: Gloucester 32-15 Bristol Bears (men)
What happened: 27-10

Hal said: Exeter Chiefs 27-25 Saracens (men)
What happened: 18-15

Hal said: London Irish 32-32 Newcastle Falcons (men)
What happened: 43-21

Hal said: Northampton Saints 38-3 Bath
What happened: 40-19

Verdict: 4/6 Great shout on the Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs (men), but was too brave in going for the draw with Irish. 

The Pundit Championship

1. Gethin Jones*
2. Pierre Koffman 
3. Hal Cruttenden
4. Mike Bubbins

*Only three valid results.

 
 

Rugby Photographer of the Year with Keith Prowse

Whether you’re amateur or professional, you can enter our Rugby Photographer of the Year competition. Launching next week, in partnership with Keith Prowse, all shortlisted entries appear in an exhibition at the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham, and the overall winner picks up £1,000.

 
 

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