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'Not shirking anything': Bath give verdict on 19-year-old sensation Orlando Bailey and update Danny Cipriani situation
Bath coach Stuart Hooper has hailed the recent impact of rookie out-half Orlando Bailey and outlined where things stand regarding the imminent arrival of new signing Danny Cipriani. With Rhys Priestland injured, Bailey was handed a first-ever Gallagher Premiership start at London Irish at the end of March a week after appearing off the bench against Worcester in a first sub appearance since last September.
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The England age-grade player, who won’t turn 20 until next September, has gone on to start both European Challenge Cup knockout games versus Zebre and Irish and he then benched versus Leicester in the Premiership before starting again in last Sunday’s league clash with Wasps.
Bailey is now in the Bath selection mix again for Saturday’s European semi-final at home to Montpellier and Hooper has expressed his delight with the youngster’s rapid progress in recent weeks. “I have been really pleased with Orlando,” enthused the Bath boss.
“We have highlighted him as someone with huge potential and what we have seen from him is he has come into the team, he has been very steady and he has developed his game week to week. He has taken new responsibilities week to week and interestingly his defence has been outstanding.
“It is not something you would automatically associate with a 10 but his defence has been outstanding which shows a great attitude. He took on kicking duties at the weekend, which again is another step forward.
The England prop is set to miss some massive games, including the Challenge Cup final should Bath beat Montpellier this Saturday https://t.co/xjuPPSrFwh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 28, 2021
“Actually that wasn’t always going to be the case but it has worked well the way he has had to add bits to his game week to week because he is now in a position where he has played European last 16, has played European quarter-final and won, has played Leicester Tigers at home and won and now he is going into a European mixer for a spot in a semi-final.
“He is in the mix for selection on the back of having some big wins. I’m probably quite protective of him because what we want to do is develop him for the long term but he has been right in there, been right in the mix in these big games and not shirking anything which is great.”
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Asked if was concerned he had to gamble in putting the youngster Bailey in at the Bath deep end due to the unavailability of Priestland and Josh Matavesi, Hooper added: “It wasn’t a worry at all. We had seen at training that he had the parts that would allow him to go and compete at this level.
“What has happened because of the pandemic is he has missed a year of rugby. If you asked me the question, was I worried? No. Would I have preferred him to have played 15, 20 more games before we got to that point? Yeah, definitely but we have got to crack on and it’s the same for lots of players. Orlando has been great and I look forward to him continuing to develop in the jersey.”
That development will continue with the imminent arrival of ex-England international Cipriani at the club to replace the Guinness PRO16-bound Priestland after his signing was announced on March 25, three months after he had quit Gloucester.
“He will be with us in the next to three weeks. We have been chatting and he has been getting him up to a point now where he is ready to go, so excited to welcome him into the building.”
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Josh Raisey runs the rule over a half-dozen Lions midfield contenders following the injury to George North https://t.co/X8sxtoicV8
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 28, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn 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.
11 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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 comments