Bath’s Carr-Smith Targets Top Scrum-Half Position

Bath scrum-half Tom Carr-Smith, who scored his inaugural Premiership try for the club against Sale last month, has expressed his ambition to “push on” in each match with the ultimate goal of securing the primary scrum-half position. The 22-year-old has participated in five games during the current season, contributing three tries, notably his first in the Premiership during the victory over Sale. Throughout the Premiership Rugby Cup campaign, Carr-Smith has served as the starting number nine, contributing to the team’s perfect record of two wins from two matches and securing maximum points. Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol, he stated, “At the start of the season I really wanted to try and get in the match 23 as much as possible. [I’ve] really loved especially the last couple of weeks getting some game time and being able to show the coaches what I can do.” He further elaborated on his aspirations, saying, “Every game is a chance to try and push to become the number two and effectively try to become the number one.” Carr-Smith became part of the Bath academy at the age of 13 and made his league debut in October 2022. He has also represented England Under-20s. Currently, he is one of two scrum-halves at Bath, alongside Neil le Roux, serving as backup to the primary choice, Ben Spencer. Carr-Smith affirmed, “I think ultimately my goal is to become the number one scrum-half here, I know you’ve got to become the number two first. I’m trying to do that and put some good performances together.” He described England international Spencer as a “big inspiration,” adding, “It’s pretty cool to train and test myself against him every day. He’s been doing well with England at the moment so I see that as an extra motivator to try and push him as much as possible. It is exciting.” Carr-Smith mentioned that he has discussed areas for improvement with Bath’s head of rugby, Johann van Graan. He elaborated, “The conversations with me have just been around working on my running game, I feel like that’s a big strength of mine and one I can continue to work on. Then when I get my moments how can I show that in games.” Bath is scheduled to play Bedford away on Saturday in their concluding cup group fixture. As the sole undefeated team in their pool, they are considered favorites to secure victory in the group and advance to the quarter-finals.