My Life in Rugby: David Flatman – Bath and England prop

When I was at Saracens I was ten times more scared of going to training than I was of playing – at least in matches I didn’t have to take on guys like François Pienaar and Danny Grewcock.
The training there was so intense – fairly early on I remember being filled in by Tony Diprose for not holding a tackle bag properly – I’m not saying he pinned me down and punched me 100 times, but over the course of the training session he probably did hit me that often.
One of the lads came up to me after and told me I needed to stand up and earn some respect, so the next time he went for me I tried to fight back – and he filled me in again.
It was very aggressive – as a youngster coming through you tried to make an impression and I remember once spotting Danny in a ruck and thinking I could smash him off the ball – I charged and thought I’d broken my neck on his leg.
I got a little lucky at Saracens because I was a cheap option who could hold his own so I became a starter fairly quickly.
That led to an England cap at just 20 on a tour to South Africa – it was probably the purest enjoyment I’ve ever had and there was no pressure because I was so inexperienced.
I was playing in a pack with Jason Leonard and Martin Johnson and I had Richard Hill slapping my leg in the scrum – it doesn’t get any better.
My nickname at Saracens at that time was still ‘Kid’ so I really was the youngster in there, but I was there or thereabouts up until 2002.
Going into World Cup season I thought I was in great shape, I’d been to Argentina and while there are no guarantees I’d been given the nod I thought that I’d probably be involved the following year.
Then in my second game of the season I got injured and was out for six months and Trevor Woodman got in there – I guess he did a pretty decent job.
I got back into the squad for the tour to the Southern Hemisphere in 2004 and although I probably wouldn’t have played a Test I thought I was in contention. Then I got injured again and was out for nearly two years so I was really proud of getting back into the squad in 2010 even though I didn’t play another Test.
It was in 2003 that I made the big decision to leave Saracens and move to Bath. I didn’t really agree with Buck Shelford’s methods and I knew it was time to move on.
Calling Nigel Wray was one of the toughest things I’ve done, he really cared about Saracens and making them a success.
But Bath were interested – and that was it. I knew some of the guys, Danny had already moved and it was the only place for me. We were a very good team and could’ve done a bit better but Leicester and Wasps were very strong.
This year sadly I was forced to retire – I always expected it to be my shoulders that would give up on me, but in the end it was my hand.
I’ve a new challenge in Bath’s communications and marketing department and it’s going well.
I’m also looking for a physical challenge to keep myself fit – my dad wants to ride a stage of the Tour de France – although I’m over 20st so that might be a bit tough.