Following the 1985 season, Bachop was selected as one of the "Five promising players" in the Rugby Almanack of New Zealand. He made his debut for
Canterbury in the 1986 South Pacific Championship match against Auckland in which he marked All Black
Grant Fox. As with his predecessor at Canterbury,
Wayne Smith, Bachop was not a goal kicker and this was the role of
Robbie Deans. Bachop had two spells in the
National Provincial Championship with each Canterbury and
Otago, and also played for the
Highlanders in the first
Super 12 season in
1996. He then moved north in 1997 and for the next two seasons played with the
Central Vikings in the
NPC second division and for the
Hurricanes in the Super 12. Bachop had a key role in
Otago's back to back wins over the
British and Irish Lions in 1993 and the
Springboks in 1994. ==All Blacks statistics==