I was a fat-arse at Bath admits Stephen Donald

Stephen Donald outdid Warren Gatland in the home hero stakes in Hamilton, leaving the field to a standing ovation after guiding the Chiefs to an impressive 40-7 victory over Wales.
But after the 2011 World Cup final matchwinner ruined Gatland’s homecoming he admitted he had lacked motivation during his time at Bath. Donald played 34 games in his season and a half there but struggled to make the expected impact.
“Bath was a great experience for me and I enjoyed my time at the club. I loved living there and the friendships I made. They had a great crew of foreigners and locals,” said Donald.
“But I struggled in the Premiership, it simply wasn’t my style of rugby. To be fair I came over after we’d won the World Cup and found myself thrown into the English winter.
“At times I battled for motivation. That’s probably why I put on about 10kgs and was a bit of a fat-arse over there.”
Donald, 32, caught up with some of his former teammates during the Wold Cup last year and was surprised to see his former club do so badly in the Premiership. That ultimately led to the sacking of Mike Ford as head coach.
“It was a very strange season for Bath. Their squad is unbelievable, almost Toulon like, so I was very surprised they didn’t perform,” said Donald.
“I thought they were going to be one of the teams to fear because they don’t lack for depth. I was surprised they weren’t featuring in the top four.”
Having marked his first start in five years for the Chiefs by leading them to victory over Wales, he is now setting his sights on having a crack against the Lions next year.
“We are not kidding ourselves. This means nothing towards a Super title but it was a great occasion which we will cherish forever,” he said.
“We had eight All Blacks sitting in a hotel room in Wellington, and we were without some of our leaders, but it was a great opportunity for some of the other players to find their voice – it doesn’t get much bigger than this for a Chiefs boy.”