Bath promote Neal Hatley to head coach role

Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper has cited Neal Hatley’s special ‘ability to connect with players’ as a key reason for the former England scrum coach’s promotion to head coach.

The Premiership club announced the news on Thursday prior to the team’s return to competitive action against London Irish this weekend.

Hatley rejoined Bath after last autumn’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, where a three-and-a-half year stint with England culminated in reaching the final.

Undone by the Springboks in the showpiece, Hatley’s return to the Rec for a second stint has seen the 50-year-old oversee Bath’s forwards and defence.

The new remit as head coach leaves Hatley responsible for the team’s on-field performances.

“We’re thrilled to confirm Neal as head coach,” Bath supremo Stuart Hooper said of Hatley, who first coached Bath between 2012 and 2016.

“The director of rugby and head coach set-up has always been the route I want to follow. I believe it’s the right way to get the best out of our people.

“Bringing Neal back into our environment was about reconnecting, finding out how I can complement him, how he can complement me and how we can deliver the best programme here at the club.”

A prop for London Irish and Bedford during his playing career, Hatley transitioned into coaching with the Exiles and has gone on to be involved at the very top of the game under Eddie Jones.

“When I rejoined Bath, Stuart was very clear about what we are trying to do at the Club. Now as Head Coach at Bath, I’m responsible for field performance.

“With my focus on delivering great performances on the pitch, it allows Stuart to focus on how we want to play and perform, making sure we are doing what we discussed in training and optimising everything we do.

“As Head Coach, I want to make sure I get the best out of our players and that’s a lot about building relationships, knowing they trust your leadership.  I’ve set out very clearly how I expect our players to behave, how I expect them to train and how we expect to treat each other.

“Not only is Bath an incredible city to live in but it’s a rugby city through and through. I feel incredibly proud to be head coach at this club and believe me, we want to win silverware.”