NEAL Hatley’s appointment as Bath head coach was a surprise to some, but not others. Having come back from the 2019 World Cup as England scrum coach, and rejoined the club with the title of defence and forwards coach, he has won the big promotion.
I’m pleased for him that he has been given the chance to make his mark at a club with a great tradition in the past of winning. Hatley’s remit as Bath head coach is to get the team winning again. His experience with England, and what he has learned from Eddie Jones, is important, but he has also made it clear that he recognises that need to find his “own way” as a head coach.
Hatley described his head coach role as focusing on “delivering great performances on the pitch”. However, I always feel that the hardest job for a head coach is picking the team, and it is not clear yet whether Bath’s director of rugby, Stuart Hooper, has handed over the responsibility of head selector to Hatley.
The titles of director of rugby and head coach can be quite difficult to decipher. It looks as if Hooper is heading up the rugby department, organising everything around what supports getting the Bath team playing at its best, and Hatley is responsible for the on-field performance.
Hooper will apparently be at most training sessions and will set the culture. Integral to that will be the team he manages – all the heads of the different rugby departments – who will instill that with the help of the playing leadership group. It will be a challenge, but normally, you see a lift in performance when a new coach comes in. Bath had been talking about putting this structure in place for some time, and it’s obviously been given the go-ahead during the lockdown period.
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