Towering talent who took Bath to the top
JEREMY GUSCOTT
OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK
Jack Rowell’s contribution to Bath rugby was immeasurable from the beginning when he arrived at The Rec as coach in 1978 to his departure in 1994, when he took over as England coach, winning a Five Nations Grand Slam in 1995.
Jack was at Gosforth for a bit as a player, and also as a coach when they won the John Player Cup in 1976 and 1977, before his business career brought him to the south-west, and into contact with club stalwart/ coach Dave Robson.
Dave owned an accounting firm, and started to put things together with Jack, who died last Monday aged 87, to turn Bath into a major club – which they weren’t at the time, because I remember as a kid watching Welsh sides come over the border and thrash Bath.
My playing career started in mini rugby at Bath (1972-77), before I went to Walcott Old Boys as a junior. Then, after joining Bath Colts in 1981, I started to hear the name Jack Rowell. We had a decent Colts side, and some of us were given opportunities when the senior side played clubs lower in the pecking order.
I got a couple of games in 1982-83, and in 1984 I was drafted onto the senior side bench while playing for the Colts on tour in Cornwall. I also remember the Colts coaches telling me I’d be needed on the bench in the 1985 John Player Cup final against London Welsh, and it was about that time when players like Stuart Barnes were starting to arrive and bed-in – and you heard as much about them as you did Jack.
Jack wasn’t aloof, but he often made himself so, in order to control the exchange – but he could also be engaging, with a sparkle in his eye. He had the gift of good judgement when you look at the captains he picked, whether Roger Spurrell, Richard Hill, Stuart Barnes, John Hall, Andy Robinson, or Phil de Glanville.
Given the number of strong characters in the squad if you didn’t get those captains right, you would have had a riot on your hands – and he got it right, because he understood who got the buy-in from the squad.
Spurrell and Rowell connected in a big way, and the message from them that kept everyone’s ego in check was that however good you were, it was always about the team.
Jack and the captain were the selectors and, with Tom Hudson getting the fitness and attitude right and Jack overseeing everything, standards were raised to the extent that you had to reach those levels to keep your place.
I wasn’t in the leadership group, I was just one of the troops who listened and learned, and hoped I got picked. No matter who was at the club, whether they were internationals or not, Jack had a favourite line.
If it was Barnes, who joined from Bristol, he would say: “It might be good enough for Bristol, but it’s not good enough for Bath”, or if it was former Loughborough students like Andy Robinson or Dave Egerton, he’d change it to, “it might be good enough for Loughborough…”
Jack pushed everyone’s buttons to get the best out of them. He knew how often to press, and how far to take it – and the amount of scraps there were between the forwards was nobody’s business.
Jack was on the pitch in his tracksuit, with his whistle, when it came to training, getting players to do drills in groups of three or four, and usually having a hand in the lineouts. Sometimes forwards like Graham Dawe, John Hall and Gareth Chilcott would drag him into the maul, and you’d hear him yell, “Oh no, leave me alone!”
PICTURE: Getty Images
In the same way, if the second team broke through our defence, he’d say: “Are you sure you should be here?”
He rattled the cage, simmered the pot, and was mischievous sometimes to get what he wanted. Jack was also very good at spotting talent, and signing talent – but it was Dave Robson who would help to find them a job.
It wasn’t always harmonious, because when Barnesy arrived at Bath, and John Horton, who’d been England’s 1980 Grand Slam fly-half, left for Bristol, the conversations must have been pretty fiery.
However, overall, Jack was liked, and he wasn’t big on confrontation. I remember when I got left out of the team for a Cup semi-final, I got a call from Barnesy – because Jack was happy for the captain to do that job!
I was only dropped once that I remember, and I played for the second team without any hesitation. I wanted to play because I knew I hadn’t been playing or training well – and they knew it too. It gave me the jolt that I needed, and I was back for the final and had got my head back in the game.
Jack was rarely full-frontal when it came to selection decisions. On one occasion, when Jack was England coach, Bath lock Nigel Redman got a call from him after coming back from a winning summer tour confident that his form would get him picked for the first autumn international.
Instead, Jack began, “I’ve got some bad news – we’ve decided to go with the team that finished the last game”. When Nigel interrupted, “I was in that team”, the phone suddenly went dead.
However, Jack was big on routine as an important part of a winning culture. On the morning before every Bath home game we’d meet in the Dukes Hotel, and everyone would be excited. But, no matter, he always asked Cooch (Garreth Chilcott) to talk – and Cooch would always say the same thing.
It went: “They’re big, strong, and robust – and they will come at us”. Then the captain would say something, and Jack would finish off.
Jack loved a celebration. He loved winning trophies, and revelled in the open-top bus tours around the city. Afterwards there was always a party at Jack’s house – it was open house – with his family there, and his late wife, Sue, who was a great hostess.
When I was picked by England, or the Lions, it was always Jack who gave me the news, and he always spoke well of you in the media. I never had many long, deep conversations with him, because I’m not like that – but I know that he and Stuart Barnes had a strong friendship. Short and Tall got on.
Jack fostered the relationships and atmosphere that bonded Bath together. It involved a lot of high level, cerebral piss-taking – and he was a master of it.
A classic example came on an England tour of Argentina when Jack got a call from Ian McGeechan, asking him to send Ollie Redman (again) to join the 1997 Lions as a replacement lock. When Jack told him the news an ecstatic Redman said, “I can’t believe it!” Jack’s instant response was, “nor can I !”
He wouldn’t push players to the point of no return, but you always wanted to prove him wrong. What he said mattered. There was a massive amount of respect for everyone you’re around in a team like that, but Jack created the platform for everyone to excel. He was a one-off.
It was a magical era for Bath, and in his 16 years of winning trophies – five League titles, and eight Cup titlesthere were many more brilliant times than hard times. It was a never to be forgotten part of Bath rugby history, which will be passed down from generation to generation, and Jack Rowell was integral to it.
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