Bath Rugby

Stephen Meehan - Head Coach

Stephen Meehan joined Bath Rugby in July 2006, after four very successful years at Stade Francais.

He began his coaching career in Queensland in 1999, working variously as Queensland Under 19 Selector, Brisbane Head Coach, Combined States Under 19 Backs Coach, and Head Coach of Brisbane Cyclone when they became East Coach Series Champions.

From July 2002 he worked as Assistant Coach (Backs and Skills) at Stade Francais, first under Head Coach Nick Mallett and from 2004/05 with Fabien Galthie. During his tenure, Stade reached the Final of the French Championship three years running, winning in 2002/03 and 2003/04, and losing in extra time to Biarritz in 2004/05.

Meehan joined Bath with first-hand and recent experience of the Heineken Cup - Stade were also losing Finalists in 2005 - a competition that has equipped him to deal with the demands of top-flight European rugby, as well as introducing him to English teams.

Mark Bakewell - Forwards Coach

Mark Bakewell joined Bath Rugby in June 2006.

Although born in New Zealand, Mark began his coaching career in Australia, where, he was coach of Sydney Eastern Suburbs at end of 1994 – 2001. He progressed from Forwards Coach to Head Coach to Club Coach and the team continually made semi finals. In 2000, the team had the longest run of wins in the club’s 100 year history under the coaching of Bakewell and Brian Smith.   Bakewell was voted New South Wales Coach of the Year in 2000. 

Bakewell was also responsible for the Strength and Conditioning programmes in the club, as well as creating the Eastern Suburbs Academy technical and physical programmes.  He was also recognised at international level working, in 1996, with Greg Smith for Australia and 2000 for Fiji. 

Mark moved to France in 2001 to take up the position of Head Coach at Brive, helping them to recover their First Division status over two seasons.  The team accumulated 1130 points over 30 games to reinstate them to first division.  He then coached at Beziers for two years as Forwards and Defence Coach, working alongside Jean-Pierre Elissalde and he eventually took over as Head Coach from Elissalde in his second year.

Between 2003 and 2007, Bakewell was utilised by Eddie Jones for Suntory, Japan as well as for Australia as a technical consultant and Steve Hansen (both in his time with Wales and All Blacks) to do forward play technical analysis.

A wide-ranging experience and knowledge of the different rugby-playing cultures of Australia and France enhance his approach to the English game and his ability to build on the strong technical foundations of the Bath Rugby pack.

Brad Davis - Defence and Skills Coach

Brad Davis joined the club in September 2006 from Castleford Tigers Rugby League, which he joined in 2004 as a player and Senior Academy Head Coach, and where he had been Assistant Coach since 2005.

The 38-year-old first came to the UK from his native Australia in 1992. As well as Castleford, he played for a number of English clubs, including Huddersfield and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, and spent a brief spell in France as player/coach at Villeneuve Leopards RLFC.

He brings years of experience from rugby league, particularly of defence, to help the club's ambitions to be at the top of European rugby.

John Palmer - United team Coach and Head Academy Coach

After over thirty years of sterling service, John Palmer is very much a part of the furniture at Bath Rugby.

As a player he was involved in countless league and cup triumphs, racking up some 1300 points in over 300 appearances along the way, and is now passing on his wealth of experience in a coaching capacity, both with the first team and with the Academy as Head Coach. John is responsible for Bath Rugby's United side, which competes in the Guinness A league.

Paul Bunce - Head of Strength and Conditioning

New Zealander Paul Bunce took over as Head of Strength and Conditioning at Bath Rugby in the summer of 2008, joining the club from the Newport Gwent-Dragons where he was the Fitness and Conditioning coach.  

Paul is originally from Napier but has spent the last four years in Wales where he previously was with the Sports Council for Wales and the Dragons. Paul qualified in Sports Science at Otago University and Recreation Management at Victoria University. He has lectured in exercise science and has worked with Wellington Rugby and New Zealand hockey as well as various Elite Commonwealth and Olympic athletes.

Chris Gaviglio - Strength and Conditioning

Strength and Conditioning coach Chris Gaviglio has made a significant impact since his arrival at the Rec in 2004. 

A former Australian Discus champion, Chris's experience traverses a wide range of the sporting genre having coached a number of athletes from the Triathlon, Water Polo, Volleyball and Skating fields.

Dave Guyan - Team Manager

Dave Guyan joined Bath Rugby over the summer from Saracens where we held a similar role last season.

Guyan has a wealth of man management experience and knowledge of professional rugby from his time at Saracens and 25 years in the Royal Navy. He is also a RFU Level 3 Coach.

Ed Williams - Team Assistant

Ed Williams joined Bath Rugby in 2006. After starting out as assistant kitman, he was later promoted to become the main kitman at the club.

Ed was educated at Radley College near Oxford and has a degree in Sociology from the University of Bath

David Reed - Performance Analyst

David Reed joined Bath Rugby as Performance Analyst in 2006.

A former semi-professional player with UWIC and Bridgwater, Reed graduated in Sports Coaching at UWIC in 2004 after which he completed an MSc in Performance Analysis and then went on to lecture. During this time David worked for the Welsh Rugby Union as well as the Ospreys and Blues regional academies.