Tindall is joint club captain of Gloucester along with Gareth Delve

Joint Gloucester captain Mike Tindall wants a win over his old club Bath to start the season in style at Kingsholm.

Tindall told BBC Radio Gloucestershire the local rivalry between the two sides adds excitement to the fixture.

"If you can win that first game you can start something straight away. If you lose you then have to focus even harder for the second game," he said.

Tindall says a good start to the season will help English rugby's reputation after this summer's controversies.

The bans handed to three former Bath players for missing drugs tests and the 'bloodgate' scandal at Harlequins have seen the sport hit the headlines.

"Realistically rugby very rarely has any scandal or bad press written about it, but people do make mistakes and it's the first time really," he said.

"Rugby doesn't normally have that and if we can help get that on track by playing some great games then that's the easiest way to do it.

"Hopefully if all the clubs have got themselves together and prepared well the Premiership's going to be as good as it always is and then people can start focussing on the rugby again."

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