My Life in Rugby: David Barnes – former Bath and England Saxons prop

When I joined Bath in 2000 I don’t think they had ever lost a cup final – by the time I finished, we had lost five.
Losing the 2004 Premiership final to Wasps was definitely the toughest one to take. We’d made massive changes over the summer, with about 16 new players coming in,  so no one expected us to do well.
But we had a great start to the league and finished top of the table. In those days the winners of the league had three weeks off before the final and Wasps came into that game having played well in the semi-final. The game finished 10-6 with the only try a breakaway scored by Stuart Abbott.
The extra time off went against us. We were a bit rusty going into the game. Everything we had worked for and the things we had achieved before the final  fell away. We were all  devastated. As history shows, Wasps become the masters of doing that to teams.
Unfortunately for Bath, while we were consistently   in the top four of the Premiership, the silverware didn’t follow.
As a result, beating Worcester to win the European Challenge Cup in 2008, was special for the fans, to give them something to celebrate.
I was at Bath for 12 years, it was my club, and it’s a city which lives and breathes its rugby.
One of the biggest influences for me, though, was when I was just 16 and went to New Zealand and ended up playing alongside a former All Blacks hooker, Tane Norton, at Linwood in Christchurch.
During my memorable two years there I grew as person and realised that I wanted to take rugby more seriously. At the time, English rugby was a forward- dominated game and under the tutelage of Tane I was made aware of a more expansive style of rugby.
When I came back  I went to West Hartlepool, where I played under Mark Ring, before moving to Newcastle in the year they won the Premiership.
Despite spending much of the season on the bench, I saw first-hand how Rugby Union was changing. With  Va’aiga Tuigamala and Alan Tait in the squad, the club were way ahead of their time in terms of the professionalism that was demanded and it was a great culture to be a part of. I then spent a couple of years with Harlequins, where I learnt a lot from Jason Leonard.
I captained England Saxons in 2006, and even got a call-up to the senior squad in 2009, but in a simple training drill my Bath teammate Duncan Bell caught my knee and I ruptured my medial ligament.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro two years ago with Andy Blyth is up there with anything I have achieved. Many feared the spinal injury Andy suffered playing for Sale in 2000 would leave him paralysed for life but his sheer determination meant he was always going to reach the summit.
To be part of Andy’s remarkable journey and  raise over £200,000 for Help for Heroes, the Rugby Players’ Association Benevolent Fund and the RFU Injured Players Foundation was unforgettable.
I was told by the surgeon I would be unable to play rugby again in 2011, so when the opportunity came up to stay involved in the game with the RPA, I took it. I’ve been working for them for eight years now, first as chairman when I was still playing,  and now as rugby director.