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'We are going to miss him, but I am so pleased that he is in a position where he can leave having won trophies'
By PA
Stuart Hooper says Bath are “chuffed to bits” after securing a place in this season’s European Challenge Cup semi-finals.
The west country club booked a seventh appearance in the competition’s last four and kept alive hopes of recapturing a trophy they last won 13 years ago by beating Recreation Ground visitors London Irish 26-13.
Bath have also been Challenge Cup runners-up three times, and they are now in a strong position to push for silverware once again.
“We are chuffed to bits to be in the semi-finals,” Bath rugby director Hooper said. “I am proud of the lads.
“We talked about finding a point of pressure and going after it tonight, and the boys did that well.
“It is a big win for us and to be in the semi-finals. These are the stages of competitions that we want to be in.”
Bath took charge of the all-Gallagher Premiership encounter through prop Will Stuart’s try double and a touchdown for their former Irish lock Josh McNally that underpinned a comfortable interval advantage.
But they could not relax until impressive number eight Zach Mercer scored midway through the final quarter, while scrum-half Ben Spencer kicked three conversions.
Mercer will leave Bath to join fellow Challenge Cup quarter-finalists Montpellier next season, and Hooper added: “Zach was outstanding.
“We are going to miss him, but genuinely I am so pleased that he is playing well and in a position where he can leave this club having won trophies.”
Irish staged a stunning late fightback to defeat round of 16 opponents Cardiff Blues, yet there was no repeat seven days later.
They were in the contest until late on following hooker Agustin Creevy’s try, plus a Paddy Jackson conversion and two penalties, but Bath proved worthy winners.
Irish rugby director Declan Kidney said: “The little things just cost us a lot tonight, which happens in knockout rugby.
“We had an honest go at the competition, and it has been a great experience for our players.”
Bath are guaranteed to be joined by at least one other English club in the semi-finals, with Leicester hosting Newcastle on Saturday, while Northampton entertain Ulster and Montpellier tackle Benetton.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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