‘We want the best league in the world’: Bath’s Bruce Craig on 16 years at the Rec

It doesn’t feel like 16 years since Bruce Craig first shared his vision for Bath Rugby with the Guardian. Back then there were plenty wondering if his extravagant ambitions would be realised and even he describes it as “a long haul” at times. “It has been a lot more difficult than I anticipated. Anyone would have wanted it to happen a lot quicker than it actually has. But anything worthwhile is difficult and takes a long time.”

It has also taught him loads about the inner workings of professional rugby. “I’m not the new young buck on the block I was a few years ago, I’m the old wily fox now.” These days he compares it to a “four-dimensional” puzzle, even for the wealthiest owners. “When you come from business into rugby you probably think there would be a lot of crossovers. But it’s different. In business … it’s a lot easier to get the outcomes.”

At least his perseverance is finally being rewarded. Bath claimed their first league title for 29 years in 2025 and work commences next spring on the Rec 2.0, the club’s refurbished city centre stadium beside the Avon, made possible by the backing of he and his billionaire co-owner, James Dyson. Any word yet on a name? The Dyson Dome? The Stadium of Bruce? A loud snort is audible – “I’ve never been that sort of person” – down the line from Spain. “We’re starting in March and we should finish by September 2028 when we’ll hand over the facilities the club should have. That’ll be amazing.”

His pride in the club’s newfound stability under Johann van Graan, strengthened academy, spectacular training base and soon-to-arrive new colosseum is understandable but a few frustrations remain. Even a Dyson-funded Bath cannot exist in a vacuum and Craig, now 63, continues to wince – “It’s probably the biggest problem in rugby still” – at the “shortsightedness and small mindedness” of those who cannot see his bigger picture.

The mothballing of the proposed World Club Championship is one irritation, as is the Champions Cup. On the eve of Bath’s opening pool game against Montpellier he is less than impressed by proposals for home-and-away ties in the last 16 and quarter-finals in a revamped 16-team competition. “I’m not sure it’s the ideal. The second games could be dead rubbers. If you want real jeopardy you’ve got to go to straight knockout. Then every one of those games would be top notch.”

There are even mutterings, from other sources, that some clubs might consider serving notice in 2028 of their intention to leave the existing tournament and start afresh from 2030. Craig is aware of the whispers and does not sound averse to a rethink. “By the end of the year I think there needs to be a direction of travel between La Ligue Nationale de Rugby, the United Rugby Championship and the Prem. For the moment I don’t think there’s commonality on anything. We really need to get a right answer because otherwise it just doesn’t work with punters, commercially or TV-wise. It needs resolution.”

That statement is guaranteed to prompt wry smiles across the Irish Sea. It was Craig and the English clubs, after all, who pressed for contentious changes to the original union-run Heineken Cup. In retrospect, he accepts there were some misjudgments. “The big error was trying to go to the Champions League scenario [involving multiple partner sponsors]. But that didn’t transpire and that was an error. It was tried but not everything works. And then dropping down to eight weekends and everyone not playing each other in their pool … I just think it’s lost something. Where it is now is not doing it for anyone.”

He still believes, even so, that the previous shake-up over a decade ago was entirely justified. “The initial change was absolutely right. I fundamentally believe Europe should have been owned by the three leagues and not by unions. With unions and clubs you’ve got two different species trying to find the same path. It’s a club competition.”

Meanwhile, with Newcastle Red Bulls and Exeter’s new American backers Black Knight now part of the family, Craig reckons it only requires significant fresh investment into one more club to tilt the scales domestically and make possible a rise in the Prem salary cap. “For these billionaire corporates and individuals, £6.4m is nothing. It’s not even change. So once you get to a critical mass in terms of a corporate objective, it’s like: ‘Hey, guys, let’s go.’ We want to be the best league in the world.”

Part of that latter equation, he predicts, will be Prem expansion to help generate more income and interest. He would also be happy to involve the Welsh regions. “I think we absolutely need 12 teams. And there are certainly advantages to the Welsh if they can sort their situations out. They would have to be private clubs, so for example Cardiff would have to be spun off [from Welsh Rugby Union ownership]. But the advantages are huge for Welsh rugby and I think it would be good for the Prem. You’ve got the rivalry, the tribalism, the proximity, the travel. Tick, tick, tick, tick.”

By now it should be clear that Craig’s passion for rugby still burns bright. The one-time scrum-half from Chew Magna also yearns for the day the RFU no longer oversees the top tier of the club game. “There should be a company running the commercial and sporting side of England professional rugby. I do think in the next five years we will see a big sea change in English club rugby.” Despite a tricky financial climate, he sniffs opportunity. “Some people will think it’s not for the better but other people will look at it and go: ‘Wow.’

“The English want to be at the same level [as the French and Irish sides]. Why are you going into sport if you haven’t got the aspirations to be winning leagues, to be winning Europe and for England to win the World Cup?”

And if he could shatter one common preconception it would be that he and his ilk are purely driven by money. “Sometimes in the press you can get portrayed in a certain way, which is not necessarily the truth. I’m ‘a wealthy owner with private jets’ and that sort of stuff. I mean, that’s bullshit. First and foremost, I invested a lot of money into rugby because I love it. It’s my passion and that’s what I love doing.

“I want rugby to be much more widely distributed in the world and for many more people to play the game, because it’s up there with the best sports in the world. I just don’t think it’s set up structurally to get to where it could be. Hopefully we can change that, bring more investment in and then get more powerful forces to drive it on.” Sixteen years on and still more rivers to cross.