The shortlist for this year’s Champions Cup player of the year award is an eyecatching one. There are five contenders and four of them – Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Finn Russell, Matthieu Jalibert and Caelan Doris – are established world-class operators. So who is the fifth Beatle? An uncapped Englishman who eats only toast on matchdays and is arguably most famous for parading around in his budgie smugglers.
Step forward Alfie Barbeary, the shaggy-haired Bath colossus looking to smash a few holes in Bordeaux Bègles’ title defence at the Stade Atlantique on Sunday. The 25-year-old Barbeary might not yet be a connoisseur of the region’s celebrated wines – “I know there’s red and white but that’s about it” – but he makes up for that in other respects. Some people are born entertainers and the big No 8 is definitely one of them.
Take last year’s exuberant trophy celebrations after Bath’s Premiership and Challenge Cup title double. For better or worse the images of a topless Barbeary, clad in his skimpy blue trunks, cavorting on an open-top bus the next day were beamed around the world. “No one told me I took it too far except for my mother. I got a few texts from her saying: ‘Put your clothes back on now.’ Everyone was waving at their families in the crowd but when I made eye contact with my mother she was just shaking her head.”
The partying continued for several more weeks afterwards, including at the Glastonbury festival. As the fun-loving Barbeary says now: “If you put beer in me at any point in that off-season the budgies were on. And if they weren’t on I got asked why not. When I came back from holiday last summer I’d walk down the street in Bath and nine or 10 people would say: ‘Good to see you’ve got your clothes back on.’”
There was only one snag, which he eventually chose to acknowledge. If you are a pro rugby player hoping to catch the eye of your national coach it helps to be in half-decent nick. The last time he sat down with the Guardian he freely admitted to not being a natural gym bunny. On this occasion, though, even he accepted some of his life choices needed recalibrating. “I didn’t want everyone to think I was just on the piss for the whole off season. I just thought: ‘I need to get my training in.’”
Accordingly he reported back early for extra fitness at Bath’s stately home base in Farleigh Hungerford, even resisting the temptation to arrive in his budgies to wind up the conditioning staff. “I didn’t have the bottle to do that. I was more like a shy dog. Head down and looking through the eyebrows.”
And guess what? It has paid off handsomely, as demonstrated by his player-of-the-year nomination. When Bath need to break open a game they know precisely who to call. Barbeary, once known as the “Beast of Banbury” in his rampaging youth, was named the player of the match in the quarter-final win over Northampton and earned similar recognition against both Castres and Exeter in January.
Gone, finally, are the injury problems that dogged his early Bath career after his arrival from Wasps in 2022, replaced by a revitalised force of nature with much still to aim at. You can see why he might not automatically be Steve Borthwick’s type of player but, equally, England need more ball-carrying turbo-thrust than they frequently showed in this year’s Six Nations.
And if nothing else Barbeary asks some unique questions with an upright carrying technique that is deceptively hard to stop. Several coaches have previously urged him to adopt a more orthodox body position – “I’ve struggled over the last couple of years with everyone saying that to be dominant in the carry you have to be low” – but this season he has reverted to his old style. “I was trying to play in a way I’d never really played before. It was unnatural for me to carry the ball at a low body height. So I went back to my roots. There are obviously occasions when you benefit from being low and powerful but I couldn’t play how I wanted to play.”
All of which makes this weekend’s game a sizeable one. Bordeaux away is as close to international rugby as it gets and Barbeary knows a defining test awaits on assorted fronts. “If Bath want to be the best we’ve got to play in games like this and really test ourselves.” Borthwick will be watching closely – “I spoke to Steve around the start of the Six Nations period when he said I was doing well” – but Barbeary believes that craving England recognition too much can be counterproductive. “I try not to think about it. I’ve had this problem before when I’ve been chasing England [selection]. It gets into my head, I start overthinking stuff and I don’t play well. If you focus on yourself and play well then hopefully everything falls into place.”
Sitting amid the wood-panelled splendour of Farleigh House, resembling an off-duty Obelix from the Asterix cartoons, he certainly seems in good spirits. This week he even found time to head to London to watch Olivia Dean in concert, the sort of night out that will be logistically easier when he relocates to London to join Saracens this summer. Barbeary smiles when asked if he is moving in with Owen Farrell – “No, I don’t think he’ll be too keen on that” – but there are clearly mixed emotions. “I’ve got nothing but love for Bath. I’ve really enjoyed the last four years. I just thought it would be a new challenge.”
Before he goes though, he is determined to win some more silverware with Bath. “We’ve almost won everything in my time here so it would be nice to go out on a bang.” Another tour de force on Sunday might even earn him the aforementioned Investec player-of-the-year award, despite his unusual dietary preferences.
“I don’t really eat much on the day of a game. Some toast or maybe a toastie. I like a big bowl of pasta and meatballs the night before … they’re my favourite. Tom de Glanville didn’t like it when I told him I liked my meatballs raw in the middle but a bit pink is good.” Soften up Bordeaux’s grand fromages and propel his side into the final and he can eat whatever he wants.