Van Graan hails team effort that secured Bath victory in Castres

Johann van Graan hailed the team effort that brought his Bath Rugby side a superb victory at French club Castres Olympique on Friday 9th January in Investec Champions Cup Round 3.

Bath Rugby are on course to finish on top of Investec Champions Cup Pool 2, their win at Castres Olympique setting them up very nicely for their Round 4 clash with Edinburgh Rugby here at The Rec on Friday 16th January | Photo © Richard Briggs

The head of rugby said after the 43-20 success at Le Stade Pierre-Fabre: “Delighted with that. A real team effort.

“When we came here, conditions were very bad. It improved through the game, which suited us.

“We got through some tough spells in the first half, I think the score [Tom Dunn’s try] just before half-time was big. But a real 80-minute performance by 23 players.”

Of what impressed him the most, van Graan said: “Our cohesiveness. Stuck to the plan.

“We played against the wind in the second half, we defended our line really, really well, conceding only two tries, and getting that bonus point is massive.”

Bath fly-half Finn Russell – who surpassed 500 points for the club when he kicked his third conversion of the evening – was pleased with the guests’ discipline.

He said: “Second half has been a bit of an issue of ours, that discipline. I don’t know how many penalties we conceded second half, but it wasn’t as many as Castres, so we’re really happy with that today.

“When we had chances, we took them. We could’ve scored a couple more but the breaks we were making and creating were nice on a night like this. To be able to turn it on when we had to was good.

“The forwards were good in the set-piece, winning the line-outs and scrums, the backs were as sharp as hell, so overall good performance.

“It was great to get the win, the result, the five points.

“We probably didn’t start off that well, conceding a few penalties, a couple of tries early on and a yellow card, but overall the performance was good.

“The weather was a lot better than what we planned for so we were able to throw it around and then we had a little bit of a lead there.

“Coming away from home to Castres – it’s one of the hardest places to go, I’d say. So it was good that the boys dug in and got the win in the end.”

Bath number 8 Alfie Barbeary was named player of the match for the second game running, having also shone in their Gallagher PREM win over Exeter Chiefs on Saturday 3rd January.

Following the success in Castres, Barbeary said: “We knew they’d come out firing at home because they’re a great side, but we trusted our squad.

“We’ve got great depth off the bench. Guy Pepper, Josh Bayliss, Will Butt, they were unreal and helped us over the line at the end.

“This is a big competition and every point is crucial, so to get a bonus point here… that extra point is huge if you look at the group. There’s some fierce competition there.”

Now Bath are gearing up for their Round 4 clash with Edinburgh Rugby at The Rec on Friday 16th January.

Van Graan said: “They’re a good side. We played them in the Challenge Cup semi-final last year. It’ll be another big battle.”