Allan Bateman

There And Back Again

Allan Bateman

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Bateman played for his home-town club of Maesteg on the wing before moving to Neath who were at that time the leading club in Wales. He was capped in 1990, but no sooner had he made his mark on international rugby than he surprisingly switched codes, within days of being approached by Warrington. In those days, there was no way back for union players who turned professional, but that changed in 1995 when the game became open and Bateman joined Richmond from Cronulla. He tells of the torment at the club when it went broke less than three years later and how misfortune turned to triumph for him when he won the Heineken Cup with Northampton. He became known as the "Clamp" in his rugby league days because of the ferocity of his tackling. He has been playing first-class rugby for 17 years and shows no sign of slowing down. As a wry observer during what has been a tumultuous period for the union code, he has many a tale to tell.