{"id":190111,"date":"2025-10-10T09:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T09:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190111\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T09:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T09:22:11","slug":"tom-dunn-on-the-bath-gloucester-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190111\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Dunn on the Bath-Gloucester rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the eyes of Gloucester<\/a> fans, Tom Dunn<\/a> is probably the closest a Bathonian can get to one of them \u2013 an honest grafter who has a full-on West Country accent and no hint of pretentiousness.<\/p>\n

However, any feelings of bonhomie towards a player wearing blue, black and white are quickly put to one side whenever the two clubs meet in what has become the fiercest of rivalries, one that has been around for 143 years.<\/p>\n

Both teams have enjoyed their moments in the sun, literally in the case of Bath\u2019s 1990 Cup-winning team, who cut Gloucester apart in baking hot conditions, to rack up a record 48-6 win.<\/p>\n

\"Video<\/p>\n

Thomas du Toit on Wilco Louw and Bath experience<\/p>\n

\"VideoThomas du Toit on Wilco Louw and Bath experience<\/p>\n

And last season was painful viewing for supporters of a Cherry & White persuasion, who had to witness three heavy league and cup defeats at the hands of the perceived privileged lot down the road.<\/p>\n

As for Gloucester fans, they\u2019ll never forget the day when they kicked Bath<\/a> while they were down, by inflicting an incredible 64-0 defeat on one of their nearest but not so dearest at Kingsholm in 2022. Out of all the Bath players that day, Dunn looked the most disconsolate once the final whistle sounded on the club\u2019s darkest hour-and-a-bit.<\/p>\n

Early in his career, Dunn was an unused replacement when it all kicked off at Kingsholm in 2014, the match where referee Tim Wigglesworth dished out five yellow and two red cards, and led to Carl Fearns<\/a> giving it large \u2013 an act that Miles Reid<\/a> repeated at a later date \u2013 in front of the Shed after an 18-17 victory.<\/p>\n

Then Finn Russell<\/a>, who\u2019s fairly new to all of this, joined in the fun when he silenced one of the most famous terraces in rugby by nailing a touchline kick amid a barrage of abuse and promptly raised a finger to his lips.<\/p>\n

\"TomGLOUCESTER, ENGLAND \u2013 APRIL 14: Tom Dunn of Bath is tackled by Louis Rees-Zammit<\/a> during the Gallagher Premiership<\/a> Rugby match between Gloucester Rugby and Bath Rugby at Kingsholm Stadium on April 14, 2023 in Gloucester, England. (Photo by David Rogers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

On the face of it, Saturday\u2019s latest match-up is only about the five points on offer, but Dunn knows better than most that it means so much more than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was that big fight, with Nick Abendanon<\/a> and Carl Fearns and Carl Fearns gave the crowd the fingers,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there was another occasion where the Shed poured cider on us on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it is all tongue-in-cheek stuff, but there is a bit more spice to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn\u2019s \u2018all-in\u2019 approach is the same whether he\u2019s playing in a pre-season friendly or a West Country derby that dates back to 1882.<\/p>\n

Passion courses through the hooker\u2019s blue, black and white veins, but he says he has learned to adapt his game and be more efficient and effective in what he does rather than charging around the pitch at 100 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am definitely feeling the best I have felt, technically and tactically and understanding-wise, but I think it can lead to you physically as well, you can be a bit smarter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably 10 years ago, I would run on the pitch 100 miles per hour, whereas now I can be more effective in what I am doing. I might only be making 15 or 16 tackles instead of 35, but my dominance might be greater. I might be making fewer carries, but my dominance might be higher. So, I am feeling great.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his 16 years at the club, Dunn has seen plenty of hookers come and go, including summer signing Dan Frost<\/a>, who is back at Bath for a second spell after things didn\u2019t work out for him the first time around as an academy player.<\/p>\n

Frost made a name for himself at Cornish Pirates before embarking on a Premiership career with Wasps<\/a> and Exeter, and Dunn welcomes the new voice and new ideas that the dynamic 22-year-old has brought to the Bath changing room.<\/p>\n

With Dunn, Frost, Jasper Spandler<\/a> and England<\/a> U20 behemoth Kepu Tuipulotu<\/a> to choose from, Bath are well stocked at hooker.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been brilliant, they have all started calling me Tom Dunn and the seven dwarfs, they\u2019re all about 5\u20198,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew Frosty from before, when he was in the academy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all got different qualities. Dan is electric with his feet, Kepu is mad powerful, Jasper is really good at the set piece, and I am just old.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all working really well together and it\u2019s been a really good pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also got young lads like Max Pearce<\/a> and Oscar Thomas pushing through as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn added: \u201cI really enjoy it when a front row player joins from another club or another league because they look at things differently. If I just stood in the meeting room and said, this is what we do, this is how we do it,\u2019 we are never going to get better, we are going to plateau at some point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas when Thomas (du Toit) joined here from the Sharks, I learned so much from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDan has come in this year and taught me how they do things there and said, \u2018have you thought about this?\u2019 You don\u2019t change the route you\u2019re on, you add to it, or you realise there are other ways of doing things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the knowledge that Dan has brought in, and I am always keen for that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the eyes of Gloucester fans, Tom Dunn is probably the closest a Bathonian can get to one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-190111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}