| Dunne’s looking to bounce back after injury BY
LARRY COONEY
 After a frustrating
few months beset by injury fly-half Andy Dunne is at last beginning to
play his way back into contention for a place in Bath’s first team.
The Dubliner could well make the bench for this Saturday’s crucial
Premiership tie at the Recreation Ground where Bath will be hoping for
their fourth victory.
Bath had to withstand a tough onslaught from Saracens last weekend at
Vicarage Road but managed to hold out for a deserved win.
Andy Dunne joined Bath Rugby on a two-year contract deal from relegated
NEC Harlequins during the close season but so far injury has hampered
his progress and limited first team appearances to just four so far.
Educated at Belvedere College in Dublin, Andy then went on a sports scholarship
at University College Dublin. He received rave reviews when he first came
onto the scene with Leinster before joining NEC Harlequins three seasons
ago.
Dunne has played for Ireland up to Under-21 level and also racked up a
creditable 208 points in two seasons when he was at Quins.
The highlight of his stay at The Stoop was when he kicked the winning
penalty against Mont-ferrand in the 2004 Parker Pen Challenge Cup final.
But his game time was limited last season after he broke a bone in his
foot during a Heineken Cup match against Munster.
Since his arrival at the Rec, Dunne has provided extra depth for Bath
Rugby at fly-half competing against Olly Barkley, Chris Malone and Ryan
Davis for a starting berth in the pivotal position of fly-half in the
first team.
Although Dunne didn’t figure in last weekend’s game at Vicarage
Road he did make an appearance against for Bath A against London Irish
last Monday when the West Country side enjoyed a comfortable victory over
the Exiles 60-17.
Dunne said: “I’ll be hoping to be involved in Sunday’s
game against London Irish and be at least on the bench once again.
“Although London Irish had possibly four players playing tonight
who might be involved it is hard to tell what kind of side might travel
on Saturday.”
London Irish had a number of first team players in action for the A team
who were recovering from injury including Adrian Flavin, Phil Murphy and
Justin Bishop.
However the Exiles face a Bath side who have recently found a new lease
of life since their poor start to the season under Brian Ashton.
Dunne said: “In the last three games there has been quite a difference
in the way we have been playing. The obvious difference is that we are
not kicking the ball away as much but playing to our strengths by running
the ball.
“The first year at The Stoop will always be remembered for our triumph
in the Parker Pen Shield final when I kicked the final penalty in that
game.
“It was a great for the club and for me and so you can imagine how
disappointed and frustrated I was last year when a broken foot injury
denied me the opportunity to help the lads fight relegation. It was such
a contrast from the first season.”
Quins relegation from the Premiership meant that the club had to reassess
their playing requirements in Division 1 and since Andy Dunne was also
out of contract it meant there was an opportunity for the Dubliner to
join another Premiership side.
Dunne said: “I was out of contract so I was lucky to get an offer
to join Bath and since I didn’t know what the situation was at The
Stoop I decided to take a chance and move to the West Country club.”
Dunne has also moved to the centre of the town and so far has admitted
he couldn’t be enjoying the place where he is playing his rugby
better.
“I’m enjoying playing here and it’s such a lovely place
and the rugby team is also an integral part of life down here in the West
Country. The population of Bath is around 80,000 and rugby is the main
sport here.”
Dunne believes Bath will be a much different proposition for the Exiles
than the side that travelled to the Madejski Stadium last November.
He said: “The autumn internationals denied us a number of our key
players that day and we badly came unstuck against London Irish. Having
said that London Irish have also had an unexpected defeat last Sunday
so Brian Smith will have his players well up for the game.
“It is our intention not to allow us to return to the kind of
display where we exposed so badly against Leinster in the recent Heineken
Cup match. Our aim is to pull clear of the relegation zone as quickly
as possible which remains our top priority this season.”
Despite their poor Premiership form in the early part of the season, Bath
have still managed to play their way to a Powergen Cup semi-final against
Llanelli on March 4 as well as an attractive Heineken Cup quarter-final
against fellow Premiership side Leicester Tigers.
He said: “Hopefully we can do reasonably well at Welford Road and
we have some good recent form there but before that we are also looking
forward to good day out at the Millennium Stadium where we will meet Llanelli
in the Powergen Cup semi-final. There is certainly plenty to play for
here at the Rec.”
Finally Dunne believes England look certain to win the Grand Slam.
He said: “I didn’t get a chance to see any of this weekend’s
games because we were on the way to Watford when the match in Paris was
in progress.
“I think Ireland can get a result against Wales but they will need
to play consistently well for the entire game.”
Meanwhile Dunne looks ahead to this Saturday’s game where he may
get an opportunity to face the Exiles and also play his way back into
contention for a first team start.
“I’m expecting the game to be quite similar to our game against
Saracens. In that game we took an early command and succeeded well in
running at them which enabled us to build an early platform for Victory.
“Hopefully we will also be able to take the game to take the game
to London Irish but they have a formidable pack where Bob Casey and Nick
Kennedy have been having outstanding seasons.
“Their loss last weekend to Newcastle is sure to have hurt Brian
Smith and his team but hopefully we will not suffer from any possible
backlash. It promisies to be a great game” concluded Dunne.
Verdict: Home win.
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