Stuart Hooper (born 18 November 1981) is the current director of rugby and former
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
player, 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 in the c ...
. He last played for Bath Rugby in the
Aviva Premiership in April 2016.
[
]
Early life
Born in Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, 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 (appr ...
at county level until he was 16, before opting for rugby on his move to the specialist sports campus at Ivybridge Community College
Ivybridge Community College is a state-funded secondary school and academy in Ivybridge, Devon, England. Located on the southern slopes of Dartmoor, it takes students from the surrounding of the South Hams, from 14 contributory primary schools ...
.
Career
Saracens: 1999-2003
Hooper broke into the Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
team whilst still a teenager and played alongside Frenchman Abdel Benazzi
Abdelatif Benazzi ( ar, عبد اللطيف بن عزي; born 20 August 1968) is a French- Moroccan rugby union player who represented both Morocco and France.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p71 He pla ...
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.England Saxons
England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...
against France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
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, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...
success in Canada. Hooper captained the 2009 Saxons side in the 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, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...
.
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.
Honours
* Powergen Cup/Anglo-Welsh Cup titles: 1
**2005
References
External links
Bath profileEngland profileYorkshire Evening Post interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Stuart
1981 births
Living people
Bath Rugby players
English rugby union players
Leeds Tykes players
Rugby union locks
Rugby union players from Exeter
Saracens F.C. players