The Citv of Bath has produced many national celebrities over the years but famous sports people have been a little thin on the ground. One has to think back to the time Viv Richards was playing for Lansdown (which of course preceded his international fame) or Bath City's Tony Book, who went on to lift the FA Cup for Manchester City in 1969.

The success of Bath rugby club over the last decade has meant that several players are quite well known around the country, but one man stands out in particular; Jeremy Guscott is an international star, recognised in all rugby playing countries around the world as one of the most gifted players in the modern game. Pick a World XV and invariably Jerry's name will be included.

ERE met a very relaxed Jerry Guscott one lunchtime (whilst he was still working for British Gas) and found him to be a very open and interesting individual A man who clearly enjoys his sport, has a great sense of humour and who places great emphasis on the importance of his family life - it should therefore not be surprising that he has committed himself to a family club like Bath.

At the time of the interview Jerry was resting a serious injury having just missed England's tremendous victory over the All Blacks and it was inevitable that our discussion should start with his fitness.

I only recently knew for sure the seriousness of the injury and whether I would miss the international. I was 99% sure I wouldn't make the game but I kept hoping that once the problem was diagnosed I might manage to get fit but it was totally the reverse. The injury requires long term rest, though I don't know how long I shall be out of action.

I'm due to see the specialist in a couple of weeks to discuss progress. If it's improved I can start light training for another two weeks and if there's no reaction to that I can do more activity. It's a real waiting game of three steps forward and one back.

The match against the South African Barbarians was meant to be one of my steps forward but it was a hard game and provided a further niggle. Although we had an idea what the problem was at that time I needed to go to Stoke Mandeville to make use of their different X-ray machines to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

Still, Mike Catt's doing well standing in for you.

He is, he's had a brilliant season, definitely Gloucester's loss and our gain. Gareth Chilcott invited him down, he soon settled in and gets on well with all the players. He's got in with a gang who I understand live similarly to The Young Ones! His flatmates include Gareth Adams, Darren Crompton and John Mallett. Iestyn Lewis and Ian Sanders also used to live there.

The likes of you, Barnesey, Andy Reed and Martin Bayfield have all recently suffered long term injuries, was this inevitable given the number and general pace of games now?

No, I think we have all just been unlucky. I've been fortunate throughout my career, I hope this isn't the start of recurring injuries, Every player now is fitter and stronger than they were in previous years, so therefore when you do get niggling injuries your recovery rate should be a lot quicker. We have a brilliant medical team at the Rec who work flat out to get people who are injured back playing as soon as possible.

Are the players happy with the new home and away league structure?

I said at the beginning of the season that it would improve the standard of rugby in general and I think I also said that the only teams which would be upset by the new system were those suffering a lot of injuries. It's ironic considering my situation and that faced by the Club with the number of injuries we seem to have sustained, but with the benefit of having a strong squad we've managed to maintain our standards and win games, though there was a hiccup at Leicester.

I only saw the match on Rugby Special, but TV highlights do not always properly portray the game. It looked as though we won sufficient ball to play a running rather than kicking game - though it's easy with hindsight - and everyone felt we took the right tactics onto the field. That game was similar to many international matches where the result is down to the kickers, and on that day unfortunately Stuart missed a couple while Liley got the ones which were important.

Welford Road is a tough place to go to.

Yes but we've done well there in the past, also they've always said Kingsholm is a tough place to go but we've had a brilliant run there - it's the same with the England squad when we go to Paris. Most teams do well when they are up against it, Bath always do better when it's a challenge - we are a big game team with big game players.

Success is almost second nature to the senior Bath players, how do you all keep motivated?

We just like winning, we've given out so much stick to so many people over the years that we couldn't accept to be on the receiving end. We have a key motivator in Jack Rowell and it's almost unthinkable for our success to be reversed.

What's Jack's secret?

Only Jack knows if he has a secret, although he will be the first to say it helps to have good players. It doesn't take a lot to motivate good players because they are only there for one purpose and that is to win. People talk about enjoying the game but the only enjoyment top class players get is from winning! You certainly don't get it from losing, which has been displayed this week-end by the All Blacks, They are like the Bath players and supporters who tend to remember the lost games at Waterloo and Moseley though of course we sometimes allow ourselves to look back fondly on the 1990Cup Final.

We see your parents at both home and away games, have they had a big influence on your career?

Yes. I can't imagine what it would have been like going to Romania for my first England cap without all the family. I think there was mum and dad, my brother and his girlfriend, my grandmother, great-granddad, great uncle, there must have seven or eight of us. At the start of every game I look across to the "Flowerpots" to see where Mum and Dad generally stand.

I also like to check whether any of the England management are watching and have a look in the press box to see who is reporting the game. During a game I will always look across to Jack to see his movements and look at his face. You can tell when he's not happy as he will sit back with his arms crossed, very straight faced - even from the pitch you can see if his facial muscles are tense.

What made you take up rugby when most lads' first choice is football?

I actually played both up until I was sixteen but I've always preferred rugby because it provides a much happier social scene. I started rugby at seven when Mum or Dad would take me down to the Rec and then Lambridge and afterwards (the lads) would stay for some sandwiches or soup whilst our parents would be having a drink in the bar, The social interaction was far beyond anything at football where you would play a game, have a shower and go home.

I must admit though there seems to have been a tremendous change in attitude from parents towards their kids, I can never remember my father shouting at me from the touchline. Although I think that winning is all important at the highest level, the game has got to be about pure enjoyment whilst the kids are still at school with the parents offering nothing but encouragement for the basic skills and to bring out individual flair.

Did you have a good tour to New Zealand?

I thoroughly enjoyed it, probably the best country I've been to on tour in respect of everything to do with rugby. The people have a good respect for the sport and the players, I don't think the majority of people in this country understand rugby to the same degree as they do in New Zealand because it is their national sport.

It was enjoyable because we were respected and there was a great deal of hope from the New Zealand people for the Lions to do well - though I have to admit I found that very strange. I think the support for the Lions revolved around the fact that some people wanted a change in management and some wanted to change the personnel that was making up the All Black side, a few new faces were required who could play the game in a slightly different way.

My impression was that no matter how well the All Blacks were doing their supporters wanted them to play in a more attractive style. They wanted to see the ball thrown out wide so that wingers like Tuigamala could run at the opposition, I think they got too used to the drab forward drive, pick up, another forward drive and pass to Grant Fox to kick up into the air for another chase of the ball. Although they were winning, the spectators were getting bored and tired of this style.

So when the Lions started to throw the ball around in the early games, taking the teams on and scoring some really attractive tries they got behind us even more- though of course when the last Test arrived they were behind New Zealand to win. This is understandable. I wouldn't expect any Bath supporters to be cheering for Auckland if they were on tour over here.

On arrival in New Zealand, did you all feeI that you would do well?

We went out there with confidence and this grew as the tour went on because of how well we did in the opening games. I don't think we could believe how well we were playing, we scored some really good tries and played them at their own game and were probably more imaginative outside than their backs. We did well because they were not used to our moves and the speed we had in the backs. Also players like Ben Clarke, Nick Popplewell and Martin Johnson had an enormous impact for our side.

It's difficult to explain, but the intensity of these matches is unbelievable. Concentration and commitment is needed for club games but only for specific periods, when you play the All Blacks or their provincial sides a full commitment of body and mind is required for the whole eighty minutes. You are totally drained at the end of any of these matches, regardless of how little actual running you may have done. It is an incredible experience.

Who did you room with on tour?

I think I roomed with everybody! There was a policy held over from the previous Lions tour that a back would share with a forward and hopefully from a different country, but with so many England players on the tour this was fairly difficult. I shared with Nick Popplewell, Paul Bumell, Kenny Milne, Andy Reed, Damian Cronin, Mick Galway.

Any little pranks you would like to share with us?

There's an old saying, "What's on tour, stays on tour!"

Following Bath clinching the league title at Saracens you braved the bungee jump, would you do it again ?

No I've done it once and it's crossed off the list of things to do, like shark fishing and scuba diving. I have always said I would never do a bungee jump because basically you're risking your life and to be honest it's a stupid thing to do.

After the game someone in the changing room said there was a bungee outside and I said, "Oh, I'd do that!". The whole room suddenly went silent and there was just no turning back, so 1 went up there and did it very quickly. Much to Stuart Barnes' disappointment he then had to go and do it because he couldn't live with me forever saying, "I've done a bungee jump why haven't you?" So he went up there and did it backwards! The trouble is I don't know what we 're going to do when we win the league this year.

Did you think of going to Queenstown in New Zealand, which is the world centre for bungee jumping?

I think we would have gone for it but the nearest place we visited was Invercargill and you would have to charter a flight and the planes only carry 14-15 people, we couldn't have booked enough seats for the whole squad to go. Whether the planes were already fully booked or Geoff Cooke phoned up the plane company in advancet o veto trips across there I just don't know.

You have played with two of the world's top centres in Will Carding and Phil de Glanville, what are their comparative strengths?

They are both world class and though I have not played with Phil at international level I have been lucky to play with him during the last few seasons at Bath. People always say about the centre pairing but it's really an inside three - the centres and stand off- and success depends on how the three of you work together. We are in turn wholly dependant on how well the forwards play, how much ball we get and how much defending we have to do.

Although there is more to it than a centre pairing I did have a particularly good relationship with Simon Halliday, who brought out the best in me and pushed me into the limelight. Bamesey used to put Hallers through and he would crash through a couple of tackles and I always used to be there to either score or lay the ball off to Audley (Lumsden) to score - in those days there weren't many wingers scoring the tries. The marking in the centre has now got much tighter, the midfield is more congested which has led to the likes of Tony Swift and Ade (Adebayo) scoring more often.

Of course you now have Ben Clarke muscling in on the centres' territory^..

Well of course Ben is playing so well that it is difficult to keep him out of the action. Ben broke onto the international scene last year and now has to sustain his standard and, so long as he can, he will be up there with the best players there has ever been.

Have you got any embarrassing moments in rugby?

I will always remember playing junior rugby, and having waltzed around a couple of players, I went to place the ball down to score the try and I must have momentarily looked up to see if anyone else was there and somehow placed the ball onto my knee, which knocked the ball up into my face and I dropped it. Now I can look back at the incident and laugh but at the time I was not too happy and I don't think any of my teammates were either,

I've also had some great moments, for example scoring that first try for the British Lions and more recently watching Bamesey's drop goal against Harlequins in the cup final. The expression on the faces of the Bath players at that time said it all - probably not too dissimilar to the feelings of all the Bath supporters.

Funnily enough I told Barnesey, just before the line out, to pass me the ball and I would have a go at a drop goal -because it was so far out. But all he said was, "Why do I need to pass it out?''.

That was a season of real comebacks.

Oh yes, the semi-final and the final, absolutely incredible. It was ridiculous in some respects that we allowed ourselves to be taken to extra time in the semi-final. Why we couldn't have played as we did in extra time during the first eighty minutes is beyond me.

Does Jack give you stick over those sort of things?

Something like that, where we were able to pull out a top drawer try to take us through to the final shows the true qualities of the team.

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