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'The waiting around on Monday and Tuesday was unique and challenging'
Stuart Hooper has described the limbo experienced by his Bath squad at the start of this week as unique, the club not knowing if they had a Gallagher Premiership semi-final at Exeter this Saturday to prepare for.
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Bath’s draw at Saracens last Sunday meant their play-off qualification fare lay in the hands of Sale, whose match against Worcester had been postponed and rescheduled for Wednesday due to a major Covid-19 outbreak in their ranks.
That left fourth-place Bath unsure if they had a semi-final play as a Sale win would have eliminated them. However, it eventually emerged that their play-off rivals had suffered a further eight positive tests, bring their Covid-19 tally to 27.
It resulted in the match being officially cancelled on Wednesday morning, allowing Bath to press ahead with preparations for a trip to Sandy Park and a first semi-finals appearance since 2015.
“It was evidently a thorough process taking into account all the factors, health and safety being the number one, and I believe they made the right decision,” said Hooper, reflecting on Thursday on the controversy that threw the Premiership into chaos.
“As rugby clubs around the country we are probably in our most dangerous period – and I include us in that”
– The feeling from Exeter as the 2019/20 season comes down to the wire in England and Europe with instances of Covid-19 on the rise at large https://t.co/YWu90Lb0tk
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 8, 2020
“It’s interesting. After the Saracens game, the only thing that happened was we drew the game which meant that our destiny within the competition was taken out of our hands and that was tough. But we very quickly switched to understanding that if we do go through the only team we can play is Exeter.
The guys, to be fair, had that moment of disappointment but then we spoke in the changing room and said, ‘We can’t waste two days here, we’re got to recover and we have got to emotionally get ourselves in a place where we are ready to go to win a semi-final on Saturday’.
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“So they switched pretty quickly. The waiting around on Monday and Tuesday was unique and challenging but we remained confident the right decision would be made and prepared for Exeter.”
Bath will go there adamant they can win despite Exeter being clear favourites to lift the title. “Definitely (Bath can win),” insisted Hooper. “I have got no doubt that they can be beaten at Sandy Park. They are aiming to get in their fifth final in a row, so they are a consistent team but they are beatable for sure.
“It’s understanding our game, it’s understanding the areas of our game that we can influence what they are trying to do. They are a quality team, they have been a quality team for a long time and they have got a strong identity. It’s a big challenge but an exciting one and the group that we have got now, they relish that type of challenge.”
Refusing to twist the knife https://t.co/TjQVj9IuqC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 7, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
And the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to comments