Trip to Saints holds no fears for us, says Bath boss Hooper

Hooper's men won 18-3 when the teams met in Northampton last August and they are now eyeing a repeat performance.

Bath have won their past two matches, against Sale and Gloucester, while Saints are currently on a four-game winning streak.

Chris Boyd's men bagged an impressive 13-12 victory at champions Exeter Chiefs last weekend.

But Hooper is not fazed by the challenge that awaits his side this weekend.

"Credit to Saints for their win at Exeter," Hooper said. "It’s never easy to go there and win and they got a win there.

"I think they were dogged, their try-line defence was very strong and they possess the players to do both that and the wide game they played so well at the end of last season.

"For us it’s a good challenge, it’s a big challenge but one that holds no fears.

"We had a very strong performance up there last year, post-lockdown, and it’s a good place to go, an exciting place to go, the surface is outstanding.

"They’ve not played there for an awful long time due to a number of cancellations due to Covid and I’m sure they’ll be excited to be back there.

"But equally our guys will be excited to go there, give it our best shot and put everything out there on the field as we have done over the last few weeks."