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'It's not you must win or else': Hooper's Bath vote of confidence
Beleaguered Bath boss Stuart Hooper believes he retains the support of club owner Bruce Craig and CEO Tarquin McDonald despite the embarrassment of last Sunday’s 71-17 Gallagher Premiership hammering at home to Saracens. The shocking result has promoted questions about whether the rookie director of rugby has what it takes to turn the club into a consistently competitive team.
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Hooper was appointed Bath boss in May 2019 and while they went on to reach the semi-finals in his first full season in charge, they finished the last term in seventh place and are now rooted to the bottom this season following defeat in their opening four matches.
The club came into the season promising a major change to their style of attack where they wanted to bring their firepower in the backs to wield a greater influence, but that alteration hasn’t paid off and there has been speculation about whether some outside help might now be needed.
Ex-Sale director Steve Diamond was linked earlier this week with possibly coming in, but Hooper has suggested he has still got the full support of his employers and he also isn’t considering recruiting a specialist defence coach to shore up their leaky rearguard. That defence brief is currently the remit of head coach Neal Hatley, the ex-England scrum coach.
“Bruce is hugely supportive,” insisted Hooper at his midweek media briefing three days after Bath were torn asunder by Saracens. “We have spoken about the game because part of my role is to have that communication with Bruce and allow him to see some of the ways we are going to get better from the weekend.
Stuart Hooper has spoken three days after a brutal Sunday at The Rec where Anthony Watson suffered serious injury and Bath were embarrassed by Saracens#England #Bath #BATvSAR #GallagherPrem #Lions
https://t.co/VhwvWDPYoG— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 20, 2021
“That’s what it has been, him and Tarquin as CEO, we have spoken of course in a very supportive manner about how we go from this point and how ultimately we make sure this is the lowest point because it is very easy to say it is upwards from here but you have got to make the conscious decision and changes to allow that to be case. Everyone at the club has been hugely supportive and continues to be so. It’s not just an arm around the shoulder, it’s about challenge and support and those guys, Bruce and Tarquin, have both been outstanding in that regard.
“I know we have to turn this around and I have an absolute belief that we will but it’s not driven by pressure from above, it’s driven by a desire and a want and a pressure from within the group to do that. The players would have felt awful for the performance on the weekend and as somebody who is responsible for their development and this part of their careers, it is something I take a huge amount of responsibility in allowing them to go out and be the best they can be. That is for me where the pressure comes from.”
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Asked if he has been given a specified period of time to ensure results improve, Hooper added: “Not a fixed period of time. It’s not about you must win or else! It’s about what can we do differently to help us win, what do you need to do, could you try this, could you try that?
“They [Craig and McDonald] come at it from an area of wanting to support me and wanting to support the group through what is a difficult time. There is no ‘you must do this or else!’ It’s absolutely a relationship where it is challenge and support, wanting to get the best out of everyone who is here.
“Defence has to improve. There are elements of our defence on the weekend which is not things people want to see again, but there is no knee-jerk reaction to that. Neal is responsible for our defence and as head coach it is a responsibility he can take on absolutely.
“We as a group have plotted our way through the early part of this week and some of it was really tough, really hard and the thing with professional sport is you have to move from the tough bits to getting back to playing the game pretty quickly. If you were in the building at the start of the week you would have seen some pretty strong challenge in a lot of areas between coaches, between coaches and players and between players and players.”
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Hooper was adamant that a positive performance would now materialise when Bath visit defending champions Harlequins on Saturday. “It was a bad day at the office (against Saracens) and there was a number of factors but one thing I am very clear on is the group is very tight and there is a huge amount of confidence in each other and also the game model we are trying to play.
“Although a performance like that can never just be brushed under the carpet, it has to be addressed and the players and staff have been outstanding at addressing it. I am very confident that the underlying issues are not there, I am very confident we are a few weeks into a season where we are developing a new game model and we got it wrong on the weekend.
“We played badly, we executed badly and we were on the end of an awful result. But I have every confidence in the group, every confidence in the players, every confidence in going out this weekend and putting in a performance which allows us to get the win at The Stoop.”
Sanderson also gave his view on whether Diamond, who was linked at the start of the week to struggling Bath, has the appetite to get back working the game anytime soon#Sharks #Bath #GallagherPrem
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 19, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
10 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
10 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
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