Van Graan so proud of Bath youngsters as Chiefs scrape to victory

Bath Rugby head of rugby Johann van Graan was proud of his young team as they ran a strong Exeter Chiefs outfit so close in their PREM Rugby Cup Pool A opener on Saturday 20th September.

A young Bath Rugby team earned the praise of head coach Johann van Graan after coming agonisingly close to beating a strong Exeter Chiefs side in the PREM Rugby Cup | Photo © Richard Briggs

The Blue, Black & White fielded a side with an average age of 21-and-a-half at The Rec and were leading 14-11 with four minutes to go in the club’s first competitive fixture of the campaign.

But a pair of late yellow cards took their toll on Bath and the visitors hit back to win 23-14 in front of a sellout crowd of 14,509.

Van Graan was understandably put out when the opening question of the post-match press conference challenged his team selection and queried why a strong United squad went to Worcester Warriors for a “meaningless” pre-season fixture the previous evening.

“I disagree totally that it was a meaningless friendly,” he said. “We’ve got amazing fans, it’s amazing to play in front of a full house. It was amazing about their support in terms of supporting a team at the average age of 21.5.

“And the way we see it at Bath Rec, it doesn’t matter which player takes the field, we’re proud of the jersey, and I saw a team proud of the club.”

The tone shifted when the Bath Echo suggested to van Graan that a young Bath side to be leading a much more experienced Chiefs team until the closing stages was something to celebrate.

“I think that’s why there’s a PREM Cup,” said van Graan. “That’s why you get a Champions Cup and a Premiership and a PREM Cup. Last season we played 37 games, we’re going to back our squad.

“Unfortunately, certain things that DoRs [directors of rugby] have got to abide to and you’ve got make certain choices. So incredibly proud of them.

“We came to win, we led at half-time 7-6, score 16-14 [to Exeter with time running out], Ewan Richards poaches the ball, eventually that penalty goes the other way and we win it by a point, then I think the questioning might be a lot different. So, yes, I’m very proud of them.”

Van Graan insisted that Bath will not change their policy of giving young players their chance in the cup – and he praised teenager James Linegar for a fine display at fly-half.

“James, 18 years old, to deliver that for 72 or 74 minutes, I think he can be very proud of himself,” said the head of rugby.

“We came up against a very heavy pack and we just couldn’t handle their power at the back end, but that’s exactly what this competition is for. It’s to make sure we come through those bits and they’ll be better for it. We win together, we lose together and we stick together.

“Average age 21.5, we’ve got 124 Premiership caps across the XXIII, they’ve got 991, not to speak about Test caps, and that’s what we believe this competition should be in the way that Rob [Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby] selects his team and other coaches select their teams, that’s up to them.

“For us, we’re going stick with the way that we do it and we are tough to beat and you could see it in the players. One point is big, one decision is big that potentially goes the other way and we might get a different result. But I’ve got no issues with what happened out there. I thought that was a very intense game of rugby.

“It was the start of the season, first time a lot of the guys have played 80s and 60s and I know we’ll be better for it.”

Baxter, whose side lost their cup opener at Gloucester Rugby on Friday 12th September, said: “We did quite a lot of good stuff and we’ve just got to keep working on getting the line of the team. The frustrating things were Part A and Part B go right but Part C kept breaking down.

“We’ve just got to keep working hard at piecing things together. The more we piece things together, the stronger we’ll be across the game.

“If you look at the stats in the territory, we were pretty much dominant in most areas, which we should be with the respective XXIIIs. But we just kind of lacked clinical ability, and it’s not just in the finishing.

“The pressure I know they were feeling today to win, some of our guys, it didn’t allow them to thrive. And I’ve got to find a way for them to thrive.”