Bath sign Denton to offset Burgess loss

Bath have moved quickly to plug the gap left by Sam Burgess's return to rugby league after announcing the signing of Scotland back-row forward David Denton from Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Burgess returned to former club South Sydney Rabbitohs last week after an unsuccessful 12-month stint as a union player with Bath that culminated in England's group-stage exit at the World Cup.

Bath had hoped to sign Wales international Taulupe Faletau, before turning their attentions to 25-year-old Zimbabwe-born Scotland international Denton.

"We've been looking to bolster our back row for some time now so we're very excited that David is joining us," Bath head coach Mike Ford said in a statement on the English Premiership club's website.

"He had an excellent World Cup, especially in the quarter-final, where he managed to outshine one of the best Australian back rows I've seen for a long time.

"He's going to fit in very well with the team and the way we play here."

Denton is due to travel to Toulon for Bath's European Champions Cup clash on Sunday, but he is not expected to play.

Bath were on the verge of signing Faletau from Newport Gwent Dragons, only for the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to veto the deal.

They were also reported to have shown interest in South Africa flanker Schalk Burger and France number eight Louis Picamoles.

Speaking about his decision to leave Bath, Burgess told Tuesday's edition of the Daily Mail: "I wanted to spend the rest of my career playing the game that's in my heart."

Ford was unable to conceal his frustration over his failure to convince Burgess to stay at the Recreation Ground.

"All I know is that he didn't have the stomach to see out his contract," Ford told a press conference.

"For me this was the time to roll his sleeves up and become the player that I thought he could be, and he chose not to."

Ford also defended Bath captain Stuart Hooper for refusing to allow Burgess to address the whole squad in order to explain his decision to leave.

"I think Sam asked to come back in on the Friday," said Ford.

"We had a lot of distractions. We'd not started the season brilliantly, we had a really important game against London Irish and we just wanted to concentrate on the game.

"Stuart said to him, 'Look, we've got a day off on Monday -- come back in and see the lads then.' That's all it was."
Source: AFP