Todd Blackadder was not fully aware of who Tom Dunn was when he was appointed as Bath’s director or rugby in 2016. Few people were.

Despite being on the books of Bath since he was 15, Dunn had yet to make his first Premiership start at the age of 24 when Blackadder arrived. Physically he is not much to look at compared to some front-row behemoths. But then Blackadder, the former All Black who coached the Canterbury Crusaders for seven years, witnessed him in training smashing everything that moved. “He was pretty much used as a body bag here for a couple of seasons, but I was like how are we not starting this guy?” Blackadder said.

Since making his maiden league start against Gloucester in October 2016, Dunn has worked his way into the England training squad and established himself as the apple of Blackadder’s eye. Last week, Dunn played the full 80 minutes in the 20-16 defeat against Toulon making 31 tackles and 11 carries. Earlier in the season he made 36 tackles against London Irish. Blackadder quickly exhausts his list of superlatives in describing his performances.

“I think what he showed at the weekend is that he can do it against the best, but he has been doing that for the past month,” Blackadder said. “He has just been astronomical. It is just what he does.