The respect and affection for Roger Spurrell that has poured out since it was announced the inspirational former Bath captain and flanker passed away last week at the age of 71 is no surprise to anyone who knew him.

Roger was already an almost mythical figure at Bath when I was in the Colts, and he was really a different era to me at Bath, as our paths only crossed over a couple of seasons.
However, we used to watch the first-team regularly, and as a player his curly blond mop was almost always visible because he was everywhere on the pitch all the time.
My first real experience playing in ...