After four weeks pushing, pulling, running, and wrestling ourselves into shape, we are now on our pre-season trip abroad.

This year, we have swapped the Algarve for the infinitely more picturesque surroundings of one of Bath's twin cities, Aix- en-Provence.

The annual trip is always something of a watershed in pre-season.

It marks the reduction of the 'beasting' sessions and the beginning of more rugby-specific training. It is therefore a huge relief that we no longer have to imitate Icelandic strongmen completing farmer's walks and flipping tyres twice a week.

But a huge point of suffering is that, instead of this, my fellow second- rowers and I are reacquainted with our front-rowers' rear ends during the numerous long and undoubtedly sweaty scrummage practices!

This year's trip has the bonus of a game against Aix tomorrow. The game will be a fantastic opportunity for us to put into a live situation everything we have been working on. It also gives all the new guys the opportunity to wear the Bath shirt for the first time.

Sam Vesty, Ross Batty, Mark McMillan, Simon Taylor, Tom Biggs and Lewis Moody are all fantastic additions to our squad, each with their own skill-sets and expertise to add to the Bath mix.

Lewis is obviously a very positive acquisition for us. He is a current Premiership champion and, of course, has just returned from captaining England to victory in Australia.

But in the short time that I have worked with him it is evident that he should be measured not simply by the amount he has achieved in the game, but by the fact that he has the hunger and desire to achieve it all again.

I think it is fair to say that there have been a few very exciting revelations on this trip.

When you are away for a week together you find out lots about one another: eating habits, sleeping habits, dress sense!

Some things are good, some are bad and some downright scary. I am, on that note, eternally grateful to Dave Guyan, our team manager, for not making me roommates with a sleep-walking David Wilson!

The most exciting news of the trip was the announcement of Luke Watson as our captain for the 2010-11 season. It is to his credit as a leader and as a person that he sought the approval of the squad before he accepted the job.

Luke spoke briefly to everyone about how he saw his role progressing and painted a picture of an environment where every player is given every opportunity to flourish.

With the combination of Luke at the helm on the pitch, the ownership of Bruce Craig, and with every player taking every one of these incredible opportunities and mixing them with a hefty dose of good old-fashioned hard work and stubbornness, the possibilities of what this team can achieve are very, very exciting.