This has been a tough season for Bath, eight matches into their Premiership campaign and are sitting at 10th in the table with 12 points, not exactly a great way to begin 2020-21. The team is ultra talented and are just coming off a semi-finals appearance last season, so this is a bit shocking. So the question remains, can Bath get back into it? And another question, should the team make a change?
Stuart Hooper led the team to the semi-finals in his first campaign as the Director of Rugby, so there has to be some opportunity for him to build upon something. However, with how this season has gone so far, some are questioning Hooper. Hooper has made a point that the team needs to focus on defense as that will lead to success. While there is no question that there is some potency in their attack, the defense has not been there as they have given up 40 to Exeter, 36 to Leicester, 52 to Wasps, 48 to Bristol, and 28 to Harlequins. That doesn't sound like good defense, especially with the caliber of players Bath has. Whether head coach Neal Hatley has any part in the lapse of defense is debatable, but you'd expect a hire like him as head coach, especially with his work with the forwards, to have a great impact.
So what is the problem? It's hard to pinpoint on what it is, but something has to be changed for anything to be fixed. Whether it's tactics, players, or in coaching, something needs to change. Clearly the last couple of matches is a lack of preparation as while Harlequins and Bristol are decent sides, Bath should have been more competitive. There is in no way that Bath should have lost to Newcastle or Leicester and if it wasn't for a cancellation and awarded victory against London Irish, then this season would even be much more of a disaster. If Hooper can get his players to be more properly prepared or change some tactics, maybe that is all is needed for them to get back on track.
Hooper deserves to have a chance to bring in a team during transfer windows or through the academy and develop a winning club, as any Director of Rugby should. It's a process that takes time and fans need to be patient. However, with the recent results, how long can Bath go before saying "Hey this isn't working, we need to move on," and then fire him? Hooper was successful in his first campaign with the club as the head honcho, so that suggests that he can bring in a winner, but the recent string of terrible losses can only be put up with for so long. Yes, it is Bath, a goliath in English rugby, and the fans expect results, so sometimes people are too harsh, but this has been brutal to watch. No way this club should be near the bottom of the table, especially with all the talent they have.
Some leeway can be given like how the Six Nations has stripped the team of some key players like Anthony Watson, Beno Obano, and Sam Underhill, but there should be enough talent for them to be competitive. If what we are seeing without some of those key players suggests that is the best that the team will be, then the depth is not there and Hooper will need to find new players to bring in. Especially if injuries occur. While the academy has some talented players, they are young and inexperienced. Tough to throw them into the wolves.
There's certainly enough time for Bath to get back into the thick of the race for the playoffs as they are eight points within being right in as Wasps are in ninth with 20 points. The table is very tight as the difference between fourth and ninth is three points. That's it. While it's theoretically possible to get a higher seed, fourth place is the more realistic goal for Bath. However, they need to fix their problems first before thinking about going to the semi-finals.
So is it time to move on? No, but every loss, not just bad loss, from here on out, will amount to a change. Hooper is young and has a great knack for finding talent, plus he has done some good coaching in the past, but results is all that matters. There's plenty of time to right the ship, but if things continue the way they do, then Hooper might be shown the door. Sure, it might be underachievement and these struggles can be fixed, but something needs to be changed as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Bath will be finding themselves looking for a new change in leadership soon.
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