I've loved my time at Bath Gallagher

MATT Gallagher admits it will be a wrench to leave Bath at the end of the season and is doing so to pursue his dream of playing international rugby.

- PAUL REES

The 27-year-old fullback/wing is eligible for three countries – England, where he was born, Ireland, through grandparents and Italy, where he is bound in the summer, through a grandfather who was born in Trentino.

Gallagher, whose father John won 18 caps for New Zealand at the end of the 1980s and was never on the losing side, came through the academy at Saracens before joining Munster and then following their head coach Johann van Graan to Bath in 2022.

He has signed a three-year contract with ambitious Treviso who have also recruited wing Louis Lynagh from Harlequins – he made a try-scoring debut against Scotland earlier this month.

“I have loved my time at Bath and it will be emotional to leave,” said Gallagher who was on the left wing when England won the U20 World Championship against an Ireland side that included Hugo Keenan, Andrew Porter and James Ryan.

“It was a tough decision but it was an opportunity that does not come around too often and I took it. I would love to play for Italy in the future and will have the opportunity to see if they want me.