Aviva Premiership

Bath make post-World Cup signings

ESPN Staff

Bath owner Bruce Craig alongside new sponsor James Dyson © Bath Rugby Enlarge News: Bath make 'audacious bid' to sign Will Genia

Bath owner Bruce Craig has revealed the club have already signed players who will arrive after the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Bath bolstered their squad with five close-season signings but Craig has continued to spend with a view to looking at next term. The club have been linked with Wallabies scrum-half Will Genia but any potential recruits are likely to arrive in November 2015 when the global showpiece has been and gone.

"We've built over the past two years and we're building this year," Craig told the BBC. "We've got Sam Burgess coming in, we've got Henry Thomas coming in, we've got other new players. We've already signed some players for post-World Cup going into what we consider our 150th year which is the 2015-16 season. We're putting everything in place to actually be in a position to win trophies."

In the 2013-14 season, Bath reached the final of the Amlin Challenge Cup but lost to Northampton and failed to make the top four of the league. Craig is hopeful the club will buck that trend next season.

"We're in a position where we've progressed over the past two years," Craig said. "Our objective this year will be to progress again, if we win silverware it'll be fabulous. With all the ins and outs and ups and downs of rugby, it is very difficult to say.

"If you look at the final where Northampton played Saracens, it was a TMO decision to decide who would win the championship. It's very difficult to be able to say we're actually going to get there. The ambition is there and the squad and the youngsters coming through, the English young talent is what we're concentrating on and that's great for the club going forward."

Bath have also announced Dyson will be their shirt-sponsor for the 2014-15 campaign with the company signing a two-year deal.

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