Bath's Johann van Graan part of 3-man Bulls shortlist

Johann van Graan has just guided Bath to their first Premiership title in 29 years, but he is on a three-man shortlist to replace Jake White, who was sacked by his former club, the Bulls, earlier this week.

Pretoria-born Van Graan, 45, began working with the Bulls when he was 16, just after leaving school, before stints on the Springboks coaching staff and then Munster before arriving in the West Country three years ago.

He is under contract to Bath until 2030 after penning a new deal in May 2024, and since arriving from Ireland, he has completely transformed Bath from big-spending underachievers to completing the treble last season.

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A return to his hometown side, who parted company with White after five years following an end-of-season review, for Van Graan, who is currently in South Africa on holiday, isn’t as problematic as initially thought.

Van Graan, who is already among the favourites to eventually replace Rassie Erasmus as Springboks coach, does have clauses in his contract that will allow him to leave under certain unspecified conditions.

However, despite ambitions to coach the Bulls and Springboks, he might take some persuading to leave The Rec so soon after leading Bath into an era that could be every bit as fruitful as their golden spell in the eighties and nineties.

The Bulls are also keen on Johan Ackermann, who returned to South Africa last November as a coaching consultant to the Junior Springboks after spending seven years abroad, including three seasons with Gloucester and four in Japan.

The URC outfit wouldn’t have to pay out compensation to acquire Ackermann’s services, and he is known to have a close working relationship with Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone.

While the third name on their list is Glasgow Warriors boss Franco Smith, who is now in the final year of his contract with the Scottish side, but like Van Graan, it would need a compensation agreement for the remainder of his deal.

Smith, who rejected a move to Leicester Tigers, was thought to be keen on the Scotland job, but it now looks as if Gregor Townsend will be given an extension until after the 2027 World Cup, which could change his thinking.