More coaches could arrive at Rec, says Bath Rugby defence supremo Mike Ford

More coaches could be recruited to Bath Rugby to give new boss Gary Gold his dream team.

Mike Ford, the club's new defence supremo who has formed a close working relationship with the South African since they teamed up at Newcastle Falcons last season, says Gold could yet seek to add additional depth to an already formidable set-up.

Former international coaches Gold and Ford have arrived at Bath alongside ex- London Irish duo Toby Booth and Neal Hatley, with Brad Davis the sole survivor from the 2011-12 coaching team.

"The dream scenario for Gary would maybe to have one more coach," said Ford.

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"Ideally we'd like to add one or two more but it's great what we've got now.

"With coaching, if it's done right, you need what we've got now if not more."

A high number of coaches is needed to ensure sufficient attention to detail, argues the ex-England defence chief.

"When we enter the training field, all 35 players are being developed," Ford explained.

"In my experience, if you only have one coach doing a session, you only have six players being coached at any one time. You could think as a coach that you've just had a good session but which players have come off that field as better players?

"During a session, you need two or three coaches watching the defence, making sure that everyone is doing the right thing. But then you've got another 15 players and they're attacking.

"Every time the players come off the pitch after training, hopefully they feel like they have developed, learned and got better."

Shedding more light on the division of labour within the new coaching team, Ford said each would fulfil a particular niche within both attack and defence.

Ford will oversee defence and Booth attack but each coach will then take charge of particular areas underneath those two headings.

A situation where there is no overlap of coaching roles can be damaging, he argues.

"Otherwise you can come away from a match saying, 'Well my area was okay', but it's not about that, it's about winning," said Ford.

"I'm going to be in charge of defence and take the lead there but we are keen to have a coaching group where everyone gets involved.

"The defence over the last few years has been good at Bath with Brad so I'd be stupid not to have him involved."

Bath are understood to be close to announcing the signing of Argentina wing Horacio Agulla as a replacement for Matt Carraro. Bath had been looking for an outside centre but Gold has decided a wing is a greater priority.

Trips to Romania, France and Italy await Bath in the Amlin Cup. The club has been drawn alongside Bucharest Wolves, Top 14 side Agen and Rugby Calvisano in Pool 4 of European rugby's second-tier tournament.