RUGBY: Vesty happy with versatility tag (From Wiltshire Times)

RUGBY: Vesty happy with versatility tag

2:50pm Friday 12th October 2012 in Sport

VERSATILITY is as much a curse as it is a blessing but Bath’s Sam Vesty insists he is happy to fill in wherever required for Gary Gold’s side.

The 30-year-old made his first start for the West Country club in the 16-10 Aviva Premiership defeat to Gloucester last weekend at Kingsholm, slotting in at inside centre.

However the former Leicester utility back is equally at home at fly-half or full-back and is adamant that as long as he is playing he doesn’t mind where he starts.

And he admits that the departure of teammate Olly Barkley to Racing Métro means that he will have to step up in the Bath backline.

He said: “I’m happy to play wherever for Bath. I know there are some guys who think they should stick to playing one position and only want to play there but I’ve always been happy wherever I start.

“I can play at fly-half, inside centre or full-back I really don’t mind. With Olly moving on we have to look forward and perform. He is a top bloke and we did train a lot together, especially working on our kicking.

“But now we need to look ahead, we’re not where we would like to be in the Premiership table but the important thing is to make sure we are there come the end of the season.”

Vesty started outside Stephen Donald in the defeat at Kingsholm where Bath made a strong start only to fall away in the second half.

But, having introduced a more pragmatic approach under new boss Gold, Vesty admits it will take a little while for everything to click.

He added: “We were disappointed with what happened in the second half at Gloucester. At half-time we really felt like we should go on and win the game but we made some basic errors to let them come back into it.

“We are kicking the ball a lot more this season but we are kicking for a reason not just for the sake of it. We have also been a lot more intense in defence and are so much more competitive at the breakdown.

“It’s not just about your back row, everyone needs to be able to win ball at the breakdown. In the Gloucester game there was an attack where Nick Abendanon came in and won a great turnover.

“The top teams like Leicester and Northampton always have 15 players who can win the ball; we need to be like that as well. I wouldn’t say we are more conservative, we are just playing the odds a lot better.”

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