Bath believe they’ll do well in Europe, says ‘excited’ van Graan

Johann van Graan is excited about locking horns with his former club Munster Rugby in the Investec Champions Cup this weekend – and he says his Bath Rugby side believe they can win Europe’s premier competition.

Bath Rugby head of rugby Johann van Graan talks to the media at the clubs’s pre-Investec Champions Cup Round 1 press conference on Wednesday 3rd December | Photo © Bath Rugby

The Blue, Black & White’s head of rugby led the Irish outfit for five years before moving to Somerset in 2022 – and the two clubs will meet at The Rec on Saturday 6th December in Champions Cup Round 1.

At Bath’s pre-Munster press conference on Wednesday 3rd December, van Graan said: “Looking forward to it. Great competition to be part of.

“There’s some amazing teams in this competition. Personally, some great memories in this competition and I think it’s a competition where all the clubs in Europe and South Africa want to do well.

“We as a family loved our time at Munster, got some very good rugby friends and some amazing memories there.

“A place that I called home for five years and we’ve got amazing memories there in Castleconnell and some very good friends that I stay in touch with both at playing level and at all different levels at the club, and some good family friends we’ve made in Ireland.

“We at Bath have got a job to do, it’s opening round for us in this competition and it’s two very good sides coming up against each other at a full Rec on Saturday evening. I think it’ll be exciting for all involved.

“It’s two big clubs in a European context. Bath were the first English winners [of the European Cup] in 1998.

“Munster are a team that’ve done very well in this competition.

“I believe there’ll be around 10,500 Bath supporters and around 3,000 Munster supporters. It’ll be a great occasion for all involved.

“I think that’s the way that rugby should be celebrated, the real spirit of the game, two of the best clubs in the Premiership and the URC [United Rugby Championship] coming up against each other, clubs with history and tradition.

“It’ll certainly be noisy. So looking forward to the noise. Both sets of supporters will enjoy everything on offer in Bath [before the match].

“I think it’s the first time in 25 years that Bath are playing against Munster in a European competition, in the Champions Cup. It’s a long time and I’ve been lucky enough to be involved at both clubs.

“It’s a competition that both clubs love and for us we’ve got a job to do on Saturday evening and we’re doing it against a very good side.

“Most people in rugby, we don’t remember the scores, we don’t remember the specific games, we remember the memories. Obviously, the memories are a lot better when you win.

“I’ve coached in the Northern Hemisphere since 2017, I’ve had some very fond memories of European afternoons and European nights. And I think one of the beauties of this competition is the travelling fans.

“We don’t want to play in a competition that we don’t believe that we can do well in. But so are 23 other teams [feeling that way].

“From my point of view, it’s the exact same way as it was a year ago against La Rochelle, it was a very wet evening and it was incredibly close. It came down to one moment and who knows what Saturday night might bring?

“So every team will have setbacks, every team will have injuries, every team will have calls go for them and against them.

“Every team will have magic moments from certain individuals – what we can do from our side is follow our process, prepare as well as we can, always respect our opposition and then go out and play.

“And that’s something that we’ve done really well across the last three-and-a-half years, go and be ourselves.

“I think you saw that last week at the Stone X [Stadium against Saracens in the Gallagher PREM]. We loved being back together.

“We hadn’t been together as a group for five weeks and this group loves playing together.

“We’re all excited about this competition.”

Will Muir and Alfie Barbeary will be available for selection for Bath. And van Graan acknowledged that the superb display by young number 8 Arthur Green at Saracens has given him a nice selection poser.

“It’s very nice to see as a coach, as a coaching group, as a group of staff, when guys have breakout performances,” said van Graan.

“I think Arthur was fantastic on Sunday afternoon against a very good opponent in Tom Willis, one of the best players in the league. So that’s great to see.

“But for us, it’s planning in advance. Yes, we’ll adapt and be fluid, but players know… some know that they play next week and some the next week and the next week and the next week.

“So we celebrate good individual performances but we looked at our performance on Sunday, short week for us, took the positives out of that, and then move forward on to this week.

“So we’ve literally had one full day of training today. And again, we had three or four teams out there, which is great to see.

“Beechen [Cliff School] is playing today, Bath Uni is playing today, so it’s great to have everybody involved all across the pathway and then looking forward to the opening of the Champions Cup.

“Both Will and Alfie are available for selection. So we’ll make our calls as the week goes by. But both completed a full training day today.

“You plan as best as you can, but our performance sport is fluid. Nothing is ever set in stone. But what I found as a coach, it’s better to plan than not to plan. And we as a group welcome guys to play well.

“We want all players to play well and to perform. And I think what the players have become very good at is the 23 guys going out on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, they represent the group because we’re all in this together.

“Yes, every player wants to start. Yes, every player wants to play a part in a 23.

“We understand as a group that everything we’ve achieved over the last three-and-a-half years we’ve achieved together.

“It’s not about 15. It’s not about 23. The fact that we won the PREM Cup [last season], our first trophy as a club for 17 years, was because of 49 players that contributed.

“It’s all about the squad. It’s fluid and plans do change. But we as a group have become pretty good with planning and we’d much rather plan than not plan.

“We’ve grown as a group since July 11th 2022 [when van Graan’s Bath reign began], and we want to become a team that performs in all competitions.

“So we’re coming up against a very good side on Saturday, then we’re going to Toulon on a Sunday afternoon [14th December] – what a special place to go and play rugby, they’re currently sitting third in the French Top 14.

“[Castres Olympique, in Round 3, on a Friday night] is one of the tougher games that you will get.

“And we played against [Round 4 opponents] Edinburgh in the Challenge Cup semi-final last season.

“So it doesn’t matter whether it’s [against a side from the] URC or Top 14, every game is going to be tough.

“We’ll take what we get on Saturday and move on pretty quickly.

“Who knows who might win it on the 23rd May? There’s some very good teams in this competition. Some teams have got to travel further than others. We’ve just got to control the things we can.

“Every year you want to get better.

“Last season we played in nine knockout games [across Europe and domestically] so that was incredibly demanding. That means that you’ve got to use the squad and we will.

“Everybody is a good selector in their view so everybody will pick teams that they believe should play for us.

“We’ll keep using the squad. We’ve used more than 50 players already this season across all the different competitions and we’ll keep using it in this competition, the Premiership and the PREM Cup, because we played 57 games last season, which is impossible for all to play, so that’s why you build depth from the top.

“We’ve recruited well over the last few years. And then our younger lads coming through, I’m talking about someone like Arthur Green, someone like Louie Hennessey, someone like Kepueli Tuipulotu, Vilikesa Sela, Ciaran Donoghue, Ethan Staddon, Ewan Richards – too many to name.

“I think that’s the balance of creating a very good and competitive squad and I’d like to think that we’ve improved over the last few years in that regard.”

Kick-off at The Rec on Saturday will be at 8pm.