NEW director of rugby Todd Blackadder has promised to excite supporters as Bath get ready to start the new Aviva Premiership campaign.

New Zealander Blackadder replaced Mike Ford at the helm at The Rec following a disappointing 2015/16 campaign that saw them finish ninth in the table.

Blackadder is just a few weeks into his role, having only arrived at Bath from Crusaders in his homeland after their exit from this year’s Super Rugby competition.

However, he has quickly set about instilling his philosophy on the squad and wants the Bath players to express themselves, starting in Saturday’s season opener away at Northampton Saints.

“We certainly want to play an attacking brand of rugby,” said Blackadder.

“If you play a really good attacking brand of rugby then it’s both sides of the ball. The best sides, 50 per cent of the points are scored from turnover counter-attacks, that’s an exciting brand of rugby.

“I sense that this team is really set-piece proud, so we are going to put a lot of teams under pressure, but we are going to play attacking rugby right across the board.

“I think that gets the buy-in from the players. If the players feel good about the type of rugby they want to play then they are likely to express themselves and be passionate.”

Although Blackadder admits he is still getting to know the intricate details of his squad, he has been nothing but impressed by everything he has seen at the club’s Farleigh House training base so far.

“You can always tell a lot about an environment from the first time you engage and meet people and I have to say the people here are just fantastic,” said Blackadder.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to an organisation where people have been so welcoming, so easy, the players are really open.

“We started off with a meeting where we talked about the environment, the culture that we need; if we get the culture right and we get people feeling comfortable and relaxed in this environment, because that’s where the best learning takes place.

“The best cultures are the ones where players are engaged, they believe in the game plan, they drive the standards, they want to play for each other.”

Blackadder’s first task may be rebuilding self-belief within the Bath camp following a disappointing showing last term but the former All Blacks skipper says there have been no obvious signs of a hangover.

“They have obviously been through something that’s happened in the past, which is the past, but I sense this group of players has a new excitement, they want to do things, they want to enjoy the year,”said Blackadder.

“It feels like I am coming into a really happy environment so my job is to get the best out of that, the best out of the team and the best out of the coaching staff.”