Bryn Cunningham says he is hugely excited to be joining Bath Rugby as the club’s new head of recruitment.
Bath Rugby will entertain CHAMP Rugby outfit Bedford Blues here at The Rec tonight, Friday 13th March, in a friendly | Photo © Richard Briggs
The 47-year-old will move to The Rec later this month, having served Ulster in a variety of capacities.
A statement from Bath on Thursday 12th March said: “The club can announce the addition of Bryn Cunningham as its new head of recruitment.
“Hailing from Ulster Rugby, the former full-back represented the Northern Irish club 150 times before retiring from the field due to injury.
“Following his time on the pitch, he moved into player representation before being appointed Ulster’s team manager in 2014.
“Since then, he has progressed through Ulster’s operations set-up, taking on the positions of operations director and general manager.
“After leaving Ulster in October 2025, Cunningham will join Bath this month to succeed the outgoing Rob Burgess in the head of recruitment position.”
Cunningham said: “I’m hugely excited to become part of a fantastic club like Bath.
“It was a difficult decision to leave Ulster, so my next move needed to be right for both my family and my career – and Bath couldn’t fit more perfectly.
“I’m delighted to join an already successful team and look forward to working with Johann [van Graan, Bath’s head of rugby] and everyone else at the club to help achieve even more in the years ahead.”
Van Graan said: “Bryn brings rich experience of both working within the rugby system and on the other side as a player agent.
“His time in Irish rugby will transition him well into the system here in England and we’re looking forward to seeing Bryn manage retention and recruitment at Bath Rugby.
“We have a family-first environment at the club and Bryn fits this perfectly.”
Bath fly-half Ciaran Donoghue has renewed his contract, keeping him at the club until 2028.
Donoghue has 21 Bath caps and was named in the matchday squads for all three finals during the Blue, Black & White’s treble-winning 2024-25 campaign.
The 23-year-old said: “I’m really excited to continue my journey and development here as a player and person.
“The support shown at The Rec and around the city is amazing and from a personal point of view I can’t wait to get back on the pitch to try to help the club deliver more success going forward.”
Van Graan said: “It gives us all great pleasure to know that Ciaran will be with us for the next two seasons.
“What a 2024-25 season Ciaran had. We all have great memories of what he has done on and off the pitch. Most importantly, his best is yet to come.”
Nine of the club’s senior academy players have extended their time in Blue, Black & White by another season.
Thompson Cowan, Ieuan Davies, Ioan Emanuel, Alfie Griffin, Will Jeanes, Scott Kirk, Isaac Mears, Max Pearce and Claudius Wheeler have all put pen to paper.
Props Griffin and Wheeler and scrum-half Mears will transition from senior academy scholars in the club’s partnership with the University of Bath to become part of the senior academy.
Van Graan said: “We’re committed to providing our club with the best developing talent Bath has to offer and we remain consistent in our approach to this.
“Instilling continuity across all aspects of our squad, including the academy and our pathway, is crucial to developing good players into great players.
“We’ve now competed in three Next Gen U18 PREM finals in three years, our partnership with the University of Bath sees the men’s rugby side sitting top of a very competitive log, and we’ve reached PREM Rugby Cup knockouts two years running.
“This is why it’s great that we are supporting both our homegrown talents and our age-grade international talents.
“Retaining our young talent plays an important part in all of these achievements and I’m happy these young men will be continuing their journey at the club.”
With Bath being knocked out of the PREM Rugby Cup at the semi-final stage, they faced being without a match this weekend.
However, they have fixed up a friendly with CHAMP Rugby outfit Bedford Blues, the match to be played at The Rec tonight, Friday 13th March (7pm).
Tickets are priced at £5 for adults and £1 for juniors – booking fee not included – and can be purchased here.
The game is included in Bath Rugby full season ticket and season ticket lite packages.
