Olly Barkley has a new house and will soon have a new team. The Rugby Club popped round for a cuppa.
Barkley tells us about his tough decision
Olly Barkley may have just moved into his new bachelor pad, but it's not long before he leaves his sporting home.
England fly-half Barkley has spent his entire professional career at Bath and admits he considers the town and the club to be his "home", but after seven successful years in the club's first-team he will be joining Gloucester from the start of next season.
Barkley will be commuting to Gloucester from his new house and
The Rugby Club popped over to have a look round with his Bath team-mates Michael Claassens and Butch James.
And over a cup of tea, Barkley admitted the decision to switch clubs was an extremely difficult one.
He said: "I've been at Bath for eight years, my best friends are here and I consider it to be my home so I can assure you that the decision to leave was a very hard one.
"It wasn't a money decision, my line of thinking was very much that if I'd stayed here for another two years then I probably wouldn't have left - and I wanted to finish my career not asking questions of myself.
"I never wanted to be thinking 'what if I'd gone there?' and if I could have become a better player. I'll go there and give it my all and if it goes well then great, and if not then at least I tried."
Second thoughts
Barkley could be forgiven for doubting his decision after a successful season for Bath in which they are playing some fine rugby and competing for two trophies.
And when asked if he'd had second thoughts he replied: "It wouldn't have been normal for me not to be thinking that.
"Everyone's so happy, the boys are always cracking jokes in the training room, they're organising nights out and everyone's smiling and laughing.
"I know I'm going to miss it, but it's not like I can't create the same thing at Gloucester, which I hope I will.
"One thing I will never lose is my friends and my friends are at Bath - even guys like Butch and Claassy who've only been there for six or seven months. We all get on really well."
Bath can take a huge step toward the Guinness Premiership semi-finals if they can beat Saracens live on Sky Sports on Saturday afternoon.
And while Barkley is hoping to end his spell at the club on a high, he revealed he has a plan to stay in touch with his friends and team-mates.
"I think Shaun Berne's going to move in," he added.
"It's my only way to say connected to the boys when I leave next year.
"I figured if I have at least one here then they always have to come up and see me every now and then."
To see more from Barkley, Claassens and James, hit the video link in the top right of your screen.
