RUGBY: Gold urges Bath kickers to step up (From Wiltshire Times)

RUGBY: Gold urges Bath kickers to step up

10:40am Friday 5th October 2012 in Sport

BATH will begin life after Olly Barkley tomorrow when they resume Aviva Premiership business against fierce rivals Gloucester at Kingsholm.

Fly-half Barkley bowed out with a 16-point haul as Bath saw off Sale Sharks 31-10 last weekend before heading to Paris and starting work with his new club Racing Metro.

New Zealand World Cup winner Stephen Donald is now set to be handed Bath's number 10 shirt, while young prospect Tom Heathcote should soon be available again after injury.

"We have a lot of goalkickers in the squad, and they need to do the job Olly was doing," Bath head coach Gary Gold said.

"It's an interesting one, though, because there was a hue and cry when we picked Olly at 10 at the start of the season.

"Everyone said he hadn't played there since 2009, but three games later he got the opportunity of a lifetime to move on and everyone was saying 'how can the club let him go?'.

"Every team needs a world-class goalkicker. Stephen Donald was brought to the club as a fly-half, and he is a player who has kicked for a World Cup final victory.

"Stephen is our 10 of choice. Sam Vesty and Tom Heathcote are his back-ups, and we've got young Ollie Devoto coming through.

"The important thing in building a team that is sustainable for a number of years is that you shouldn't be reliant on one individual week in, week out."

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