OF the legion of London Irish players to join Bath this season, back rower David Sisi has slipped under the radar, but the 20-year-old is happy to bide his time at the Rec.

Sisi, along with Jonathan Joseph, flanker Matt Garvey and Anthony Watson – who trained with the senior England squad this week – joined Bath in the summer.

He has had to regain his fitness following an ankle operation and with South Africa’s Francois Louw – arguably the world’s form openside at present – Garvey and Carl Fearns occupying the back row, he has quite a fight on his hands.

The German-born loose forward arrived with an impressive reputation however – he was integral, along with Watson, in helping England win their first ever Junior World Championship title this summer – and he made his Aviva Premiership debut two years ago.

Sisi hopes to be involved soon and is ready to prove his worth at the Rec.

He said: “I’m coming back from an injury so personally it fits in nicely but for any young guy, the opportunity to play for the first team and show your first-team coaches what you’re all about, is an opportunity to go on and play in the Premiership.

“And if you play well in the Premiership you go on to international honours so it’s all a stepping stone and the LV= Cup plays a huge part in blooding young players in front of big crowds on big stages.

“The move to Bath has gone really well, I’ve settled in really well. I came with guys like Anthony Watson, JJ and Matt Garvey but the whole ethos of the club, the coaches and all the other players has been fantastic.

“Carl Fearns has been outstanding in the back row along with Francois Louw – they’re two fantastic guys to be learning off so it’s great for a young player to be here.

“I had an ankle op at the start of September so I haven’t debuted for the club yet and I’m really looking forward to pulling on the shirt and giving it all I’ve got, I’m hungry as I have had a bit of a lay-off.”

Sisi’s positional preference is either at blindside flanker or number eight but the majority of his first-team opportunities have been in the seven jersey, with Springbok Louw proving the perfect mentor.

He added: “I’ve probably played most of my first-team rugby at seven and out of the three I would probably say I wasn’t a seven as much as I was a six or a number eight. But I’m still young and any opportunity to play in the back row is going to be a good one for me.

“I’m not too worried about nailing down a position at the moment but maybe in the future. I’m enjoying my time anywhere in the back row.

“Francois Louw is the outstanding seven probably in the world at the moment, coming off the back of the Rugby Championship, the form he was in there, and he’s managed to bring that back to the club.

“He’s a huge talisman for the club and as a young player it’s fantastic to have someone like that around.”

Click on the related links above for video with Sisi and former Bath and England ace Lewis Moody ahead of the start of the LV= Cup

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