Inside Bath's
rugby machine
After a decade of effort, the University of Bath men’s 1st XV lifted the BUCS Super Rugby trophy for the first time. Behind the victory is a system designed to turn university players into rugby stars
Ten years in the making
Almost 300 miles away in Durham, on a Wednesday evening in March, the University of Bath men’s 1st XV did something no Bath side had managed in the ten-year history of the BUCS Super Rugby competition. A confidently executed 17-7 away win – Bath’s 11th successive victory – ensured the team finished two points clear of previous champions Loughborough.
It was a season of determined consistency. Bath fielded 49 players over the course of the campaign and won 15 of their 18 matches, scoring 101 tries and 73 conversions. The numbers tell one story, but the emotion on the pitch after the final whistle told another.
“It’s been a long time, and we’ve been building, building, building towards this,” said Head of Rugby Aaron James after the match. “This is a massive reward for so many people – the S&C coaches, physios, video analysis, facilities, groundsmen, senior management, the whole of Team Bath and the SU, everyone who works so hard for us. My role is five to 10%. This is a reward for the club and all of our supporters.”
“After the game, it was a bit surreal,” said player of the match, Freddy Rossigneux, who scored one try and set up the other. “For the boys who’ve been here longer, who’ve seen the ups and downs across a season, to finally win something meant a lot to them. It wasn’t just the first team. The whole club got together. We had so much support.”
Co-captain Max Pearce finished as top try scorer with 11 for the season, while prop Alfie Griffin and half-back Roman Andrews were vital in the matchday squad.
The title was the first in the competition’s history for Bath. So, what was different this year, and what does it take to build a winning team?
Passion over perfection
The BUCS Super Rugby triumph didn’t happen overnight. It’s the product of a rugby programme that has been carefully constructed to cater for players at every stage, from those who have barely laced up a pair of boots to those coming up through the academy system, already working towards professional contracts.
Bath’s rugby programme brings together more than 300 men and women. At the top sits the BUCS Super Rugby 1st XV; at the other end, an open door for passionate students who want to play recreationally.
Aaron James, who joined the University in 2009, is clear that it’s not just about the first team. “We’re only as good as our second and third teams,” he says. The coaches who run those teams are central. “They go to the lower teams and spot the next players coming through,” he explains. “I’ve had student coaches say to me, you wouldn’t have won the league if it wasn’t for me – and they’re right!”
Austin Emens (BSc Business 2026) is a perfect example of how that pathway works. Now a professional player with Bath Rugby, he began his first pre-season in the fifth team. “I wasn’t in an academy at 18, so I kind of slipped through the net,” he says. “It hit my ego a bit, but I thought, all I can do is play as well as I can and let that speak for itself.”
It did. Within two weeks, he was playing BUCS league rugby for the second team. By his third year, Bath Rugby had noticed him. “I wasn’t a big name at school level,” he says, “but there is an opportunity playing in the development teams, and a strong link upwards. I was grateful that I was rewarded for playing well.”
“I’ve had student coaches say to me, you wouldn’t have won the league if it wasn’t for me – and they’re right!”
That pathway is supported by the environment that surrounds it. “It’s important to create a really good culture,” says Aaron. “Especially at university level, where your programme could change overnight because of poor behaviour.” The Brothers culture – as Aaron calls it – is the result of a deliberate philosophy, crafted over years. “First years come here and join a rugby family.
The older ones help the younger ones. And what we’ve found is that good behaviour becomes self-perpetuating just as much as bad behaviour does.”
Freddy Rossigneux agrees “We’re really close – not just the ones and the twos, but the threes and fours as well. On a Wednesday after a game, we’ll all be together. I don’t know how many clubs can really say that the top players know everyone throughout the whole club and enjoy spending time with each other. The relationships off the pitch boost the relationships on it.”
The programme’s mission is straightforward: to help every student become better educated, a better athlete, a better rugby player and a better person. Whether a player arrives with professional ambitions or simply a love of the game, that same framework applies. At the heart of it is the Team Bath Sports Training Village – a world-class facility giving students access to leading coaching, specialist support services and a stellar training environment.
The long game
The coaching operation at Bath is led by a man who has been there and done that. Aaron James is a former Premiership player with Wasps who also coached Bath Rugby Academy, England Students and Great Britain 7s Students. He’s supported by both experienced coaches and student coaches developing within the programme.
Aaron is solid in the belief that not every player is the finished article when they arrive. “They’re still maturing physically,” he says. “And you’re generally a very different character between 18 and 20. We give them an opportunity to play and show themselves in the lower teams.” Aaron recognises that occasionally good players will slip through the net, and some will also emerge as unexpected successes.
“If I hadn’t ended up at Bath, I probably wouldn’t have played professional rugby.”
Iwan Coyle is one such story. He arrived at Bath with no professional ambitions – and is now in talks with two clubs. “He’s gone from a quiet guy to a good on-field leader,” says Aaron. “He just got a chance to grow.”
Reflecting on his own journey through the ranks, Austin Emens said, “There have been countless examples of boys who have been nowhere near it in their first years and by their fourth year, they’re playing first team, or they’ve been offered contracts. Cream always rises to the top.”
For Tom Doughty (BSc Sports Performance 2019) – who captained the BUCS Super Rugby side in 2018-19 and went on to a professional career with Bath Rugby, Doncaster Knights and Bristol Bears before retiring, it was a similar story of development. “If I hadn’t ended up at Bath, I probably wouldn’t have played professional rugby. The way training weeks were structured, the way I was educated about recovery and nutrition – it all helped me prepare for what a professional environment would feel and look like.”
Aaron, he adds, was unlike any coach he’d encountered before. “He truly cared about everyone as a human being, not just as a rugby player. He used to get onto me about going to my lectures, making sure I was doing the right thing inside and outside of rugby.”
Bath Rugby and beyond
The programme’s ambition is solidified by a partnership with Bath Rugby – the reigning Premiership champions and one of the most successful clubs in English rugby history.
The partnership centres on shared coaches, aligned training and a joint commitment to player development, allowing players to progress along a pathway. The partnership, now in its eighth year, has entered a period of cohesion. “We started like girlfriend and boyfriend – but we’re probably married now,” Aaron says.
That approach also gives Bath Rugby more time to assess those who may still be developing key aspects of their game. “Traditionally, we make big decisions on players at 18, and that can be difficult,” says Bath Rugby’s Head of Academy, Craig Lilley. “What the partnership gives us is a longer runway, so players have more time to grow, and we can make better decisions on where their potential can take them.”
Twenty-five playing members of the Bath Rugby squad that completed a historic trophy treble in 2024-25 were either current students or graduates of the University. Orlando Bailey (BSc International Development with Economics 2025), Tom Carr-Smith (BSc Management 2025) and Max Ojomoh (BSc Business Administration 2025) are just a few Bath alumni who balanced their studies at Bath with blossoming professional careers.
The pipeline from lecture theatre to professional rugby pitch is now a well-trodden path. Austin Emens made 11 appearances for Bath Rugby during their treble-winning campaign and describes the transition as smooth. “The University is run as a professional environment – the drills we do, the conditioning – it’s all very closely aligned.”
Four of the five students who joined the Senior Academy in 2024 – Charlie Griffin (BSc Economics & Politics 2027), Tyler Offiah (BSc Politics & International Relations 2027), Kepu Tuipulotu (BSc Sport Management & Coaching 2027) and Jack Woods (BSc Sport Management & Coaching 2027) – made their Bath Rugby debuts while also playing for the University men’s 1st XV.
“What the partnership gives us is a longer runway, so players have more time to grow.”
Past, present and future
The title win is the headline, but it sits within a much bigger story. Eleven University of Bath students represented their countries during the 2026 Six Nations Under-20s Championship. Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi made his senior Italy debut in November 2025.
As for alumni, the roll call stretches back decades – Steve Borthwick (BSc Economics & Politics 2003), now England’s Head Coach, studied here. In the women’s game, Bath has produced the likes of Amy Wilson-Hardy (MEng Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering 2015), Grace Crompton (BSc Sport Management & Coaching 2023) and Natasha Hunt (BA Coach Education and Sports Development), a Red Roses stalwart and double England Women’s World Cup champion. “I have very fond memories of being here,” Natasha says. “I played with the likes of Izzy Noel-Smith, Nicola Hall and Jen Floyd, and I still have really good links with them.”
The league title is secured, but for Aaron, there’s a bigger challenge on his mind. “We’ve now created an expectation,” he says. “It’s easy chasing – maintaining is harder. I’ve never been there before, so we’ll see what it’s like. I’m happy to find out.”
For a programme that has been “building, building, building,” this title may be the first, but it shouldn’t be the last.
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