‘Van Graan is one of the best, if not the best, at man management’

Bath Rugby skipper Ben Spencer believes that Johann van Graan is an amazing man manager.

Ben Spencer, left, Bath Rugby’s captain, has hailed his boss Johann van Graan, right, as a fantastic man manager | Photo © Bath Rugby

At the club’s pre-Investec Champions Cup Round 3 press conference on Tuesday 6th January, Spencer hailed the South African and said the pair have an excellent relationship.

Van Graan has rightly earned a place in Bath Rugby folklore, having turned them from table-proppers into treble champions since taking charge in summer 2022.

And Spencer is quick to laud the quality of the Blue, Black & White’s head of rugby.

The 33-year-old scrum-half said: “I’d like to think we have a good relationship.

“We speak probably most days and it’s not just about rugby. It’s about just life in general. And those conversations don’t just happen with me.

“I think Johann is an unbelievable man manager and to try to please 60, 70 lads is a pretty tough job. I know that he does it unbelievably well.

“It’s a massive job for him, but he’s definitely one of the best, if not the best, around.”

Spencer revealed how he, as van Graan’s general on the field, nurtures young players.

He said: “It’s just about giving them confidence.

“It’s about them understanding that no matter what happens, there’s 22 other guys who have got their back.

“However many mistakes you make, it’s just about your next action.

“I thought [debutant and teenager] Enoch [Opoku-Gyamfi] was brilliant at the weekend [against Exeter Chiefs in the Gallagher PREM].

“He showed some real good glimpses of what he can do. I thought he was outstanding.

“In terms of my role, it’s more about giving those lads the licence to go out there and show what they can do.”

And Spencer acknowledged that talking with referees during matches has become a massive part of rugby.

He said: “It’s actually a huge part of the game.

“I think it’s something that I’ve tried to get better at, especially over the last few years.

“It’s a massive part of the game, speaking to referees and how you deal with them.

“If you can get a decent relationship with those guys, it puts you in good stead throughout the game.

“So it’s a big part of the game and I think it’s not just having a good relationship with him, but it’s making sure you don’t go on the wrong side of him.

“And I think that’s something that I’ve tried to do and not step over the line too much in terms of how much you push your referee.”

There was also praise at the press conference for Opoku-Gyamfi from van Graan.

The head of rugby said: “He’s made a start now, so that’s a starting point for us.

“Incredible journey that he’s been on from the warm-up game against Worcester [Warriors in September], he came on in the second half.

“Made his debut against Chile for Italy and this was his full debut.

“The thing that I look for is was he confident? Absolutely. Players gave him confidence. He did his job really well.

“He worked hard in the kick chase. His off-the-ball work was very good. He stopped the maul really well.

“Sladey’s [Henry Slade’s] first kick to the corner, he [Opoku-Gyamfi] performed his role really well.

“I said to him before the game ‘Go as hard as you can’.

“He cramped around 46 minutes and we brought Quinn [Roux] on.

“Like many players making the first one [appearance] now, you’ve got to get the second one and keep improving, but the squad are very proud of him.

“He had his whole family there on Saturday and it’s not only a proud moment for him, but also a proud moment for the club.”

Van Graan also praised another second row, former Leinster man Ross Molony, who has played a lot of minutes for Bath this season.

“We’ve become a squad of players,” said van Graan. “You can’t only have one or two guys in each position.

“We keep building our depth and keep rotating our squad.

“Obviously Charlie [Ewels] is out sick with his leg, Ewan [Richards] is injured.

“So that’s already two of our five locks out, Harvey Cuckson was on loan to the Scarlets.

“Somebody needs to step up and perform their role. Ross has done that fantastically since he joined us last season.

“We manage him in certain parts of the week because at that stage of the season he’s going to play more minutes and I haven’t come across a player that doesn’t want to play. He’s playing really well.”

Van Graan and Spencer reflected on the 33-26 success against Exeter, a game that had seen Bath pegged back to 26-26 after opening up a four-try lead.

Van Graan said: “After the Northampton game [a 41-21 loss in the PREM on Saturday 27th December], we just revisited our technique and a lot of times defence is a collective attitude. We were beaten by the better team on the day.

“I thought both teams played really well on Saturday. I think credit to Japes [JP Ferreira, Bath’s defence coach] and specifically the players, ultimately that was a battle between two heavyweights on Saturday and a fairly even battle over the 80.

“We’re not too reactive when a certain part of our game doesn’t go too well on a specific weekend.

“We looked at it [the Northampton game]. There’s one or two technical bits – Tommy Freeman’s first try came off a four-man and we fixed that and then sometimes you’re going to miss tackles.

“I thought the defensive effort on Saturday was very good.

“There’s some very, very good stuff we did in that game. You’ve got to play what’s in front of us and it was a very good contest.”

Spencer said: “Definitely a lot closer than we would’ve liked, especially with the start we had, going 26-0 up inside 20 minutes.

“It was obviously a great start, and all credit to Chiefs – they threw everything at us at times and got their way back into the game.

“But I’m hugely proud of the lads to keep the ball for the best part of four minutes and nearly 40 phases and get over the line at the end [for the decisive try from Arthur Green]. So it was a good result.”

Meanwhile, Exeter’s Campbell Ridl has been handed a two-match ban after his 20-minute red card at The Rec. Ridl was ordered off after an aerial challenge on Bath winger Henry Arundell.

A statement from the RFU on Tuesday 6th January said: “The case of Campbell Ridl, Exeter Chiefs, was heard on papers by sole judicial officer Charles Cuthbert.

“Ridl was shown a red card for tackling, charging, pushing or grasping a player in the air, contrary to World Rugby Law 9.17, during a game against Bath Rugby on Saturday 3rd January.

“Ridl accepted the charge and received a two-match ban.

“Matches missed: 10th January v Stade Francais Paris, 18th January v Cardiff Rugby.”

The RFU’s 10-page short judgment form stated that: “The footage showed that the player’s actions were reckless rather than anything which was intentional. The player knew (or should have known) there was a risk of committing an act of foul play.”

At Bath’s press conference on 6th January, Spencer said of the challenge: “Never nice to see. He [Arundell] showed a lot of guts, a lot of grit to get up and carry on and finish the game.

“Unfortunately it’s a part of the game. It’s a contact sport, a collision sport and at times people get it wrong and it’s fine margins.

“He [Arundell] gets up half a yard higher, it’s a good contest in the air but unfortunately Henry ends up landing on his face. He’s a tough guy and shook it off and managed to finish the game.”