Bags of energy and enthusiasm and a desire to be the best, that's Balsh. Bags of energy and bags of tries. The new England cap has already scored try after scintillating try this season for Bath at senior level and looks set for a long and rewarding rugby career ahead of him. The Lancastrians' uninhibited style of play stems from early coaching at mini-level where he was encouraged to keep the ball in hand. Having toured Australia with England Schools in the summer of 1997, he then played a major part in a brilliant 32-10 win over South Africa atU21 level in December the following year, scoring a late try, a conversion and five penalties.

The ERE team know how much our readers like knowing who was No. 7 in the charts when players were born. I caught up (metaphorically speaking!) with Balsh five days before he was due to celebrate his 21st birthday on Tuesday 18 April - which means Art Garfunkel was at top spot with the Watership Down inspired Bright Eyes. (How appropriate!)

Haydn: How are you coping with all the attention and expectation from the media and Bath Rugby fans alike?

lain: Um!

(Tinds comments from the background "He's not, it's all gone to his head - he's changed!")

I just want to go out there and perform week in week out to the best of my ability. I don't feel the pressure or expectation from anybody. I'll just continue to play my own game and perform the way I have been for the past couple of months.

Haydn: What ambitions did you have when you were at school?

lain: My ambition was to be the best in everything I did at school and it has stayed with me right up until now. Academically I wasn't the best but I was so motivated by all the sports I played like cricket, football and tennis. I enjoy all sports and now that I have chosen rugby I want to be the best at that. So now I just want to do my best for my team-mates and myself and to help Bath to win.

Haydn: Describe the surroundings in which you grew up in Blackburn?

lain: I had a lot of close friends in Blackburn and I come from a good family so I had an enjoyable childhood. It is more inner city and sometimes dog-eat-dog with a lot of terraced houses that are not as nice as the ones in Bath.

Haydn: It's your 21st birthday next week - what would be the perfect present?

Iain: Anything. A good belated present for me would be to win the Allied Dunbar League, which I consider to be very realistic. It would be brilliant if we could do that. If we win all our remaining games who knows? My mum and dad are coming down to Bath, so I will be going out with them on the Saturday of the Sale game along with some of the boys and we shall all have a good time.

Haydn: Who was the first person to mention to you about talent?

lain: I used to have a tennis coach called John Schofield who certainly mentioned it to me once. When I was really young, David Pratt my cricket coach also encouraged me. With my rugby, Ken Webster or Chris Markeson encouraged all of us to play a lot of ball in hand at mini-level. We weren't allowed to a kick and we worked a lot on handling skills.

Haydn: Do you think we are seeing the benefit of those early days at mini-level with players like yourself and Tinds coming through now?

lain: Definitely, if you work on your basics all of the time your whole game will improve and then you can work around them.

Haydn: Who is your mentor?

lain: Mike Catt! Seriously - he is my mentor. Everyone is allocated a mentor and Mike Catt is mine. He does a good job and I get on really well with him even though he may disagree (Ian chuckles). Catty has been around now for quite a while and he's great at what he does for Bath and England. He is a very experienced senior player and I have learned a lot from him both on and off the pitch.

Haydn: You have a reputation for pace. How much sprint training do you do and what is your fastest time?

lain: When I did the 100m at school my time was about 10.9s, something like that, but I haven't timed it in the past three years. I am tempted to go and find out one day this summer up at the university. I like doing SAQ type stuff with Mark Spivey, our fitness coach.

Haydn: SAQ?

lain: Speed, Agility and (Ian pauses) Quickness or whatever. I think that's what it stands for. It comprises of little drills to help you with your technique and your fast twitch fibres and alike. We worked on those yesterday (Wednesday) and we shall do some more tomorrow, so it's generally twice a week. During warm ups everyone generally works on technique and stride-outs.

Haydn: Are you getting faster?

lain: I think I shall be working on getting quicker in the sum mer. It's more about keeping sharp at the moment and maintaining the same amount of pace for a longer period.

Haydn: Describe what you are thinking when you go off on a run? 

lain: I want to score. As soon as I get the ball in my hands I think 'This is a chance for me to score" and I think that whenever I get the ball in my hands. Then I weigh-up the situation as to how and what sort of opposition is in front of me - but it happens so quickly.

Haydn: You have scored 15 tries so far this season to date, what's the secret?

lain: Our forwards. They create the platform and do all the hard work along with the half-backs. Then we as backs look for the opportunities and the space to finish the thing off. Our forwards at the moment are doing really well in that area and are also defending superbly, so when there is a turnover they are immediately picking the ball up. All the handling has improved and we are all playing really, really well at the moment.

Haydn: What prompted that performance against London Irish?

lain: We knew we needed to get ourselves back on track and trained very hard that week with everyone being extremely focused for a tough game. It just happened because everyone wanted to do it for each other. Since January we have bonded together a lot more as a team and we clicked really well with the assistance of the hard ground.

Haydn: Talk me through some of the recent performances. Firstly against Bristol?

lain: Because it was a local derby we all knew it was such a big game for us especially as they haven't beaten us for ages. We knew this could be the upset and the reality of it happening. The fear factor was a motivator as no one wants to lose to their local rivals. You don't want to lose to anyone full stop, but especially not to Bristol.

Haydn: Talk us through your second try against Bristol?

lain: It came from good turnover ball from Catty and Ronnie. Angus cut up a great line and passed back inside to Clarkey who used quick hands for me to come on the scissors and get to the line. But the full back was filing across so I had to slow him down a bit by stepping in and creating a bit of space - then over.

Haydn: The result against Gloucester?

lain: Well we won! We played very well in the first half, but we let our concentration slip a little in the second and they came back at us very hard. I remember Victor and I getting the usual abuse from the Shed early on then after 20 minutes they were silent. In the second half we were a little complacent and they came out all guns blazing. We defended superbly despite Gloucester scoring a couple of tries and putting us under a great deal of pressure. Phil Vickery was sent off for barging into Ronnie which took a bit of pressure off us. I think it was justified having seen it on the video as it was way after the whistle - going in with his head and catching Ronnie unawares. But he got his punishment by being sent- off.

Haydn: What was it like in the changing room after the match?

lain: We were delighted. That said, we know we can beat all the teams in the league if we maintain it mentally. We have the belief and were delighted to beat Gloucester and do the double over them - it was a great day

Haydn: What has changed to make the Bath backs now so effective in attack?

lain: I think because the forwards are playing superbly. When you have the likes of Catty, Pezza, Tinds and Maggsy clicking in your side, for me, it's boosted my game.  Having managed to get into the England squad I am trying to bring it back to club level now and concentrate more in training. I want to do better and put in more hard work. But with anyone it helps when you have that sort of talent around you.

Haydn: What part of your game do you need to work on?

lain: Everything, definitely: I need to get a bit bigger using the weights; my speed; tackling; defence; clearing out rucks and handling.

Haydn: What is the hardest discipline for you?

lain: (There is an expected very long pause) The hardest thing for me is working on my kicking simply because I don't like kicking ball away. Everyone has to do it, but I do seem a little slack on it although I am working hard on my defence and rucking at the breakdowns. Everyone has to work on everything

Haydn: What is your reaction to the announcement of the proposed £20m stadium on Rec?

lain: I think it's a very good idea and it would be very nice for the club and fans as everyone would benefit from a new stadium.

Haydn: Everyone?

lain: Who wouldn't?

Haydn: One of the IRB criteria for a player to become eligible to play for a country is: The player must have completed 36 consecutive months' residence immediately prior to selection. How will this affect the game in the long run and do you think the 36-month minimum qualification period will change?

lain: No idea on the 36-month thing. I just think that where you are born, or if you have been living in the same country for so many years you should be able to play for that country. Hilts showed his allegiance to Scotland with 41 caps and although we all know the law, the way he has been treated seems a bit harsh.

Haydn: How frustrating has it been for you on the bench for England?

lain: I hate sitting on any sort of bench - I just want to play. I know I have to put in more hard work and to keep playing well and then we'll see what happens.

Haydn: How many minutes in total have you played in this years inaugural 6-Nations Championships?

lain: About 40 or 50 minutes.

Haydn: What was your best moment?

lain: Getting on for my first cap was awesome. Playing against France and managing to put in a few tackles was good but I didn't manage to touch the ball. Any minute on the pitch is good.

Haydn: An ERE source tells me you were worse for wear after victory over Ireland. Can you recall any of that night's celebrations?

lain: That's definitely Tinds, (he laughs). He's the only person who would do that. I remember shouting out "Ja Ja!" during the speeches to Matt Dawson as that's his nickname from Star Wars fame. Tinds and me were not very well afterwards.

Haydn: What was going through the minds of the England squad in the build up to the Scotland match?

lain: We knew it was a crunch match and everyone was really anxious although we were confident we would do well. Because Scotland hadn't won a game there was always the doubt in your mind thinking that this might be the one for them. We all went in with good confidence after a good build up and just didn't play to the weather, which we were not prepared for. So tactically, when it started to pour it down we weren't spot on when we needed to kick to the corners.

Haydn: Would you agree England appeared to have no plan B to adapt to the wet conditions at Murrayfield?

lain: I can't really tell because I wasn't on the pitch and only got on with 10 minutes to go. At that stage we were still in it, although there were things we could have done better. The handling was poor and we tried to force too many things. But fair play to the Scots, they played brilliantly in the conditions. I thought Andy Nicol and Hodge played very well.

Haydn: What do you remember of the cross-field run you set off on with only a couple of minutes remaining?

lain: What am I gonna do! I just thought I've got to try something and if it comes off it comes off and if not then at least I tried. It was very difficult to try and get into the game with just 10 minutes left. All I wanted was the ball and got it just that once and didn't do much with it other than get flattened.

Haydn: Describe the England dressing room afterwards?

lain: P****d-off. It was as though someone had died. Everyone was dead silent and caught up in a huge sense of misery. To have the Grand Slam taken away again and for some guys for the second year running was awful.

Haydn: What are your music tastes and favourite computer games?

lain: I like all types of music apart from Heavy Metal. I enjoy Soul music and R & B and a lot of chart music. It depends on the mood I'm in and where I am. I've just bought a computer game - Tomb Raider III so I'm just getting into that at the moment. NFL Blitz is one I have at the moment on the Dreamcast consul and every now and again I have a go against my flatmate Mr Tindall.

Haydn: What 3 things would you take to a desert island? You could always take Tinds of course.

lain: Yeah! Tinds, my mum and my dad, (he says jokingly). I dunno really (long pause). I'd take Harrods with me as it's got everything in it you need. I'd take my mum as well.

Haydn: And finally the ERE Trivia question: Name all 7-try scorers for Bath in the 48-6 demolition of Gloucester in the 1990 Pilkington Cup Final and who was the only player to bag two of them?

lain: Tony Swift got two, Jerry Guscott, Robbo? (Robbo passes by the door of the ERE interrogation room and sees Balsh in trouble) Robbo? Who scored in the 1990 Cup Final against Gloucester?

Robbo: Kevin Withey, Tony Swift, Victor, Nigel Redman, Graham Dawe.

Haydn: The one you both missed was JC.

Robbo: But who was the player on the shoulder of the try scorer every single time?

lain: You were of course - just to get on camera!

Thanks a lot Balsh. You're not alone in that no player has yet fully answered the ERE Triv question correctly to date. But stop making us feel so old! I mean - the mere fact that when we beat Gloucester in the 1990 Cup Final you had only just turned eleven years old makes me feel considerably middle aged! All of the ERE team would kill to have the talent and time you have on your side. Our very best wishes for a long and glorious career in the blue, black and white, in the white of England and who knows -the red of the Lions!!

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