Johann van Graan is proud of the way that Bath Rugby look after not just their players, but also their players’ families.
Johann van Graan believes that rugby needs to follow the Bath model in terms of how players and their families are looked after. He was speaking after his side thumped Saracens here at The Rec on Friday 20th March | Photo © Richard Briggs
At the club’s press conference following the 62-15 home win over Saracens in Gallagher PREM Round 11 on Friday 20th March, van Graan – the Blue, Black & White’s head of rugby – said: “We as a club made a conscious decision three-and-a-half years ago that you need to look after people.
“For me, it’s important that Thomas [du Toit] gets five weeks [off earlier in 2026] – nobody said he needs the five weeks – but in my view, because he and Santi [Carreras] had such a long season, you want to look after them and their families, and you want to give guys ample time to plan.
“I’ve been in contact with all the players during the [Guinness] Six Nations, and everybody’s different with different needs.
“Louie Hennessey [who played for Wales in the Six Nations] had this week away and he’ll be back in next week.
“Each player is a bit different.
“If you look at how our games fell, I had to make certain decisions.
“We play Sale [Sharks on Sunday 29th March], so some guys will be involved next week, some guys won’t be involved against Saracens in the [Investec Champions Cup] Round of 16 [on Saturday 4th April] and some guys will have a bit of a bigger break now.
“But I think it’s nice for players and their partners to know that they can actually plan for something and spend some time with your kids away. And I think that’s the way that we’ve got to go as a sport.
“We’ve got to look after players and their families, and I’m really proud of the way that we do it at the club.
“And there’s… let’s call it the ruling, that a player has to have time off. We don’t see it that way.
“Every [international] player whether he’s played one minute or like Finn [Russell] has played every single game, will have some time away.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re a club that people like to play because we look after players and their families.”
Asked whether the hammering of Saracens will have any bearing on the sides’ meeting on 4th April, van Graan said: “I don’t think so because it’s a different competition.
“We’ll play in the sun and it’s going to be a different referee, the pressure of a knockout game.
“It’s the Champions Cup – when you run out, the song is different. And the reward is very different.
“If you get through the next one, one team will go through to a European quarter-final, something that we as a club haven’t done for a very, very long time.
“Tonight’s game will have nothing to do with that game, and I think Europe is such a special competition.
“Now we’ve got three days away from each other, because this last few days was quite intense in terms of prepping the team.
“We’ll reassemble on Tuesday and then look forward to the game against Sale in Manchester.
“And then we’ve got a short turnaround to the next one. So we’ll enjoy the next few days.”
