So far it’s been so-so but David Sisi is set to soar

For a back-row goliath, David Sisi has done a remarkable job of flying below the radar since his switch to Bath. The Junior World Cup winner followed his London Irish coaches, Toby Booth and Neal Hatley, to the Rec last summer alongside fellow Exiles, Jonathan Joseph, Matt Garvey and Anthony Watson after helping England clinch the JWC title in France.
While the other three stepped straight into Bath's starting XV and proved themselves to the Rec faithful, Sisi endured another season on the sidelines after badly injuring his ankle in pre-season.
This on top of missing nine months of the 2012-13 campaign after ripping his hamstring clean off the bone.
Sisi, 6ft 4ins and 19st,spent six months rehabilitating following ankle surgery but regained his fitness to finish last season like a train on loan at Leeds, earning rave reviews from forwards coach Tommy McGee for his “great attitude and genuine power.”
While other players from that triumphant Junior World Cup team have gone on to bigger and better things, notably Jack Nowell, Kyle Sinckler and Anthony Watson, Sisi did not get the chance to build on his summer's exertions, suffering the ankle damage in a pre-season match against Bristol. He made his first Bath start in the LV= Cup win at Leicester Tigers last January, before joining Leeds.
Now, fully fit, Sisi is hungry for his chance at Bath.
The 21-year-old told The Rugby Paper: “Training in Portugal went very well last week with Bath and I'm feeling fit and strong. It's the first full pre-season I've had for a few years and I hope I can get a run of games without injury to show the guys here what I can do.
“I played a couple of LV=Cup games last season in the New Year after my injury but when the coaches offered me the chance to go and play proper first-team rugby in the Championship I jumped at it.
“Leeds was a great place for me to go and they welcomed me so well. They play an attractive style and I was gutted to leave with no silverware after losing the British & Irish Cup final and the Championship play-offs.
“Having been out for such a while the pace in the Premiership would have been too much to adjust to straight away but the physicality is no less in the Championship. It gave me the chance to get my body right and I just can't wait for the season to start.
“Everyone's been great since I arrived last year and although I made a couple of appearances last year, I feel they haven't seen the best of me here yet and I want to show what I can do.
“I just want to stay injury-free and help Bath move forward. My career has had all sorts of ups and downs even at this early stage so I think I'm due a bit of luck.”
Despite playing the majority of his senior rugby at seven, the German-born loose forward says he would prefer to focus on blindside or No.8 in the future. But with Garvey, Carl Fearns, Leroy Houston and Francois Louw in the mix, Sisi has a fight on his hands to win any of their shirts.
“I've played most of my first-team rugby at seven for Irish but I think blindside or No.8 is where my future lies,” added Sisi, the youngest player in London Irish's history after making his first team debut aged 17 in the LV= Cup.
“The way that Bath play it doesn't matter too much what number you wear. The coaches want big, strong physical forwards who can pretty much do it all. I do like to get my hands on the ball and try to make yards and we pride ourselves on physical defence.
“I like to think my breakdown skills from playing seven will benefit me, as will my younger days in the second row. We have been working hard on my lineout skills and I like to think I can add something in that department as well.
“I need to be at my best fitness-wise to have a chance of breaking into this team. In my position here guys like Matt, Carl and Francois are hugely physical. I knew when I left Irish it was going to be tough to break into the team and it's the same now. Nailing a starting shirt will be a challenge.
“I'm feeling fit and it's great to have a full pre-season. Last year I did my ankle against Bristol and was then out until January; while the year before that I missed nine months after a grade three rupture of my hamstring. In layman's terms I tore the muscle off the bone.
“I didn't play at all until the summer but then went to France with the Junior World Cup which was a massive highlight.”
Sisi was part of the much vaunted U20 side of 2012 that looked destined to go one better than in 2011 when they lost in the final to New Zealand. However, England failed to make the semi-finals for the first time since the tournament's 2008 inception.
“We were bitterly disappointed after that campaign in South Africa,” Sisi added. “We had a good team that year with more star players such as Marland Yarde. For whatever reason it didn't happen that year so we had a real point to prove. And for me, to win it alongside all the boys of my own year group was even more special.
“I'm proud of what I've achieved so far in my career but I am ambitious, and like all players, I want to play for my country. Playing with these guys will only benefit me over the long term.”
MATTHEW EMERY