‘Injuries are to blame’ for worst-ever start
Following a 40-19 defeat to Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens, Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper insisted injuries were to blame for the side’s worst-ever Gallagher Premiership start continuing.
Despite tries from Sam Underhill, Lewis Boyce and Will Stuart, the Blue, Black and Whites ultimately succumbed as injuries to Danny Cipriani and Ben Spencer proved costly.
“Sometimes I look at things and just think ‘What’s going on?.’
“We lost JJ (Jonathan Joseph), Ruaridh (Mcconnochie) and Orlando (Bailey) in the week, we lost Josh Mcnally in the warm-up and then Ben Spencer and Danny Cipriani 20 minutes into the game. “From there it’s tough.” With Bath’s injury woes only mounting week-by-week, it’s hard not to empathise with the pressurised Hooper as a factor out of his control continues to demand an incredible amount of adaptability from his team.
“Danny went off with an HIA, not sure for Ben, looked like lower limb.
“When we came here I thought ‘If we can keep this 15 on the pitch as long as possible we’ve got a good shot,’ then all of a sudden in the warm-up we lose one and then two more straight away.”
Hooper also insured he emphasised the incredible maturity and malleability of some key players, as the original backline was decimated within minutes.
“Max Ojomoh, in his first season of Premiership rugby steps up at 10, he did himself proud today.
“Roko (Rokoduguni) is a hell of an athlete, but he’s not a centre. The transition down the pitch is the difficult bit.”
In terms of management changes Hooper spoke on Bath’s search for a new defence coach.
“We’re close to getting someone (defence coach) in.
“There’ve been a few things going on globally which obviously makes things more difficult than they were before.
With an intimidating European Heineken Champions Cup clash in Dublin against Leinster beckoning next Saturday, as well as a visit from French giants La Rochelle the following week, Hooper spoke about what steps Bath will take to prepare themselves ahead of the tough fixtures.
“It’s making sure we keep level with our analysis of the game, and make sure there’s context to it.
“The transition down the pitch is the difficult bit.
“When we got there we scored, but the facts show that it was a poor end result for us.
“We’ll roll our sleeves up and go again.”
The director of rugby insisted his side remains in the right headspace despite the difficult run of form so far this season.
“Anyone who saw that game today will know there’s no lack of motivation across the board.
“Some boys have supported the club since they were kids, if you mix that in with some quality internationals, they’re motivated.
“We’re not getting it right at the moment but they’re motivated.”