Bath: Time to deliver

 

An impressive run of six consecutive victories to end the season saw the west country side secure a home semifinal in the Premiership before the last round of matches.

 

Their second-place finish sees them host Leicester Tigers on Saturday at the Rec, the site of a dominant 45-0 victory for Bath over their opponents earlier this season.

 

While a Leicester side who maintained their flawless record of finishing in the top-four for the past 11 years will be a tougher proposition this time round, Hooper is confident his side can reach their first Twickenham final since 2004.

 

And the 33-year-old lock insists it is the combination of his pack and the talents of George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and co in the back line that will prove vital if Bath are to claim a first title since 1996.

 

"My calf is absolutely fine now and I ran hard on it over the last few days so I'm ready to go," Hooper said.

 

"Obviously you've got to have the platform to do the rest of it so as much as those guys [the backline] get all the plaudits there is more to it than that.

 

"We pride ourselves on our scrum and line-out and it's about bringing together both parts of our game together, even if they [the backline] get over the line more often than us.

 

"The way the team has progressed this season we've known what we've wanted to achieve all season.

 

"We'll look back afterwards and be disappointed or happy with our year but for now we'll put the right pressure on ourselves to deliver."

 

Bath warmed up for this weekend's clash with a thrilling 50-30 bonus-point win against west country rivals Gloucester last time out, but Hooper expects both defences to be tighter on Saturday.

 

And before Bath can turn attentions to emulating the highly-decorated side of the early 1990s, Hooper admits Mike Ford's men have to deliver this campaign.

 

"It's great to get a local derby win and good to see all the lads get through it," he added.

 

"There were one or two little errors that led to them scoring but our defence has been fantastic all year and right up there with the best in the league, so we're working hard to make sure that continues.

 

"Of course we are looking to be successful for as long as possible but we don't worry ourselves with thoughts of creating legacies.

 

"We just work hard in training and the guys off the pitch put in a tremendous amount of work to ensure that it's not just short-term success we're building."

 

@premrugby