By Duncan Wood
June 28 2002

Having been surprisingly released by Bristol, Adam Vander was always going to find another club. The only question mark is over his recovery from injury and his bad car accident. Bristol must have released him for a reason...

Here is the confirmation from Bath:

"Bath Rugby are delighted to announce the signing of England A and Sevens International Adam Vander from the Bristol Shoguns."

"A former Bath player, Adam, 28, returns to the club having enjoyed successful spells with Richmond (1996-98) and latterly the Bristol Shoguns (1998-2002)."

"A vastly talented forward, Adam made 69 appearances and scored 16 tries for the Shoguns on the way to establishing a reputation as being one of English rugby’s most consistent openside flankers."

"Bath Rugby’s Team Director, Michael Foley believes that Adam will have a big role to play with the club next season:"

“Adam is an outstanding openside noted for his physical play and competitive ball-winning ability in the loose. He will be a great asset to what is already a talented back row division.”

"Adam, who weighs in at 16 st 3lbs and is 6ft 2ins, is currently on holiday in Australia, but said that he is looking forward to joining his new team mates for pre-season training in July."

“This is a great opportunity for me to make a fresh start and return to a club that I feel has tremendous potential. There are extremely talented players at Bath Rugby and I am looking forward to playing alongside them and working with Michael Foley and continuing my association with Jack Rowell. I see this as a big challenge, but one which I am relishing."

So, there you have it. Adam Vander is now officially a Bath player. This will come as disappointing news to those who had hoped that, following the departure of Dean Ryan, the door may have been open for Adam to return.

Sadly, that's not the case and it's now apparent that the club are resting the future of the openside position on the shoulders of Mike Lipman and Chris Morgan with Craig Short as insurance.

In hindsight, Adam had an up and down career with Bristol. When he was fit, he was superb. Sadly, he did miss considerable time due to injury. In his first season, 1999-2000 (he didn't join in 1998 as the Bath press release states), he made 21 starts and scored an impressive 9 tries. He will be forever remembered that season for his winning try in the thrilling Shield win away at Biarritz.

In 2000-1, he made more starts than anyone else (26) and scored two tries. His performances were of a consistently high standard and it baffled many Bristol supporters as to why he didn't get any international recognition.

He started this season on the sidelines with injury but came back to make the openside position very much his own despite competition from the likes of Criag Short.

However, it all went sour away at Leeds. Suffering from stomach flu, he limped out of the game after about 30 minutes to be replaced by Chris Morgan. The following week, Mike Lipman started at London Irish and hasn't looked back. News filtered through about his car accident before the Quins game and he's been out ever since.

It would appear that with his contract having run out, there was sufficient doubt about him recovering from the car accident for the club to release him. Apparently, he was offered a new 2 year deal back in March but negotiations ground to a halt. He had returned to training briefly before the end of the season according to the Evening Post.

His release did come as something of a surprise although one seemingly well informed supporter on the messageboards yesterday claimed that the decision to let him go was unanimous and that his injury problems meant that he didn't train very often.

Let's hope that it's not one of those decisions that comes back to haunt us although he's a lovely bloke and I hope that he plays well even if Bath don't!!!

Finally, I do find it quite amusing that Bath are talking about reclaiming one of their own. Exactly how many appearances did he make before moving to Richmond and Bristol where he made his name?