Stuart Hooper (born 18 November 1981) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and then director of rugby at

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

. He last played for Bath Rugby in the Aviva Premiership in April 2016.

Early life

Born in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, Hooper played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at county level until he was 16, before opting for rugby on his move to the specialist sports campus at Ivybridge Community College.

Playing career

Saracens: 1999-2003

Hooper broke into the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

team whilst still a teenager and played alongside Frenchman Abdel Benazzi in the second row.

Leeds: 2003-2007

After making over 30 appearances or so for Saracens, he made a surprise move to Leeds Tykes in June 2003. He made his Tykes debut against Bath on 14 September 2003. During his time at Leeds he helped them win the 2004–05 Powergen Cup, where he started in the final. In June 2005 Hooper was called up for England Saxons against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and was part of their

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, England, the United States national rugby union te ...

success in Canada. Hooper captained the 2009 Saxons side in the

. Hooper was appointed as captain of Leeds Tykes for the 2005–06

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

season, and in doing so became the youngest captain in the league.

Bath Rugby: 2007-2016

In April 2006, Hooper re-signed with Leeds, but left at the end of the 2007–08 season to join Bath. On 5 July 2011 Hooper was named the new Bath club captain for the 2011–12 season. Hooper retired with immediate effect from all rugby under medical advice on 14 April 2016 as the result of a back injury.

Coaching career

Bath Rugby: 2016-2023

On 30 August 2016 it was announced that Hooper would take on the role of Performance and Player Development Director at Bath. On 7 May 2019 it was announced that Hooper would take on the role of Director of Rugby for Bath at the start of the 2019-20 season, following the departure of former director of rugby Todd Blackadder. Bath finished 4th in the 2019-20 season, reaching the Premiership playoffs for the first time since 2015. However, the 2021–22 season proved particularly challenging, as Bath finished last in the Premiership table, managing only five wins in 24 games. Ahead of the 2022–23 season, South African coach Johann van Graan signed a long-term contract to join Bath. He was initially set to work under Hooper as Head Coach, replacing Neal Hatley, who transitioned to Forwards Coach, while Hooper retained his position as Director of Rugby. However, after Bath's historic 64-0 loss to rivals

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

near the end of the 2021–22 season, a restructuring of the club's leadership took place. Hooper moved from Director of Rugby to the newly created role of General Manager, with Van Graan becoming Head of Rugby and gaining full control of the first team for the 2022–23 season. Hooper departed this role and left the club after just one season as General Manager.

References

External links

Bath profileEngland profileYorkshire Evening Post interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Stuart 1981 births Living people People educated at Ivybridge Community College Bath Rugby players English rugby union players Leeds Tykes players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Exeter Saracens F.C. players