Joy For Bath as Stuart Hooper Extends His Contract

Bath looks set to enjoy another season of fine rugby as reports have confirmed that their captain, Stuart Hooper, has signed up for another season.

Seven years after joining Bath Rugby from Leeds Carnegie, Hooper has established himself as a meticulous captain and is now looking forward to another sterling Rugby Union season.

In a statement on the Bath Rugby website, head coach Mike Ford described Hooper as “the best captain [he’d] ever worked with.” He said: “Stuart represents everything that is good about Bath Rugby.

“You couldn’t ask for a better leader out there on the field, and I am looking forward to working with him again next season.”

Having joined the Premiership club in 2008, Hooper has made more than 170 appearances in the lock position. He said of the contractual extension: “I'm more eager than ever to carry on the good work that we've started at the club.

"We're getting better year on year and I've no doubt we're closer than ever to achieving something great here at Bath Rugby."

With the Six Nations now in full swing, it’s more exciting news for fans of British Rugby, just five months before the Rugby World Cup 2015 kicks off in Britain.

For 33-year-old Hooper, he shows no sign of slowing down, after what has been an illustrious career so far. Starting out in his formative years, Hooper’s career in rugby began at the Saracens when he was still a teenager, during which he made more than 30 appearances for the club.

In 2003, Hooper surprised fans by heading north to play for Leeds Tykes, ironically making his debut against the team which he currently captains that September. He soon began to develop a taste for captaincy when he was appointed as captain of Leeds Tykes during the 2005-2006 Guinness Premiership Season.

Phil Davies, former director of rugby at Leeds Tykes, said of Hooper at the time: “Stuart Hooper is one of the best young second-rows in the country. He is an England Under-21 international and has a massive future in the game.”

Davies’ predictions were certainly right, and it was during Hooper’s captaincy at Leeds that he managed to guide the team through to a win in the 2004-05 Powergen Cup.

Now, 10 years later, Hooper is back down south but has been just as prosperous, and will doubtless be looking forward to smashing it once again in the forthcoming rugby union season.