'Dream big dreams': First van Graan interview as the new Bath boss
New head of rugby Johann van Graan has admitted he is dreaming of big things happening at struggling Bath. The South African has just given his first interview as boss at the Gallagher Premiership club after they recruited him from Munster.
It was last December when it emerged that van Graan had rebuffed a contract extension offer with the Irish province in preference of making a switch into the English scene for the first time, but his head coach remit has since been upscaled to head of rugby following the latest management reshuffle at the club which was unveiled in May.
Van Graan is now into his second week in charge on the training ground and in his first interview as the new Bath supremo – he had refused to talk about Bath during his final six months at Munster – he outlined his ambitions for a team that finished the 2021/22 season in 13th and last place in the Premiership.
New general manager Stuart Hooper frequently bemoaned the lengthy casualty list that affected the Bath squad during his three years as director of rugby, but van Graan hopes that an improvement can quickly happen in this sector to help them become a most robust team in the months ahead.
Speaking in a video interview published on the Bath website, van Graan said: “It’s fair to say I want to take my time in assessing all of those injured players, some are still on their way back. At the end of next week, we will give an assessment of where everybody is.
“We have a big injury rate, something we will work very hard to get down. One of the successes of the Premiership structure is you want to have your best players on the pitch and we want to make sure we look after them and condition them to the highest level humanly possible and hopefully that will result in fewer players getting injured. I will have a clearer picture at the back end of next week.
“It is important to note I have looked at fitness in the short and long-term category. We have had some injuries over the last few weeks so looking forward to adding some short-term options and I am really going to take my time to learn about the players. I want to see what we need to add and we might add one or two players during the season and hopefully the team really performs and then make decisions where we go in the future.
“I’d love to retain as many players as possible but as I said to the group, if you look at this as a train journey at the end of a season you make a stop and some people will get off and some will get on. The only thing we can control is the now and we are looking to improve performance right from the start.
“We started last week and it was important to make sure that we get a vision in place. A vision is pretty important because if you don’t know where you are going you are on a road to nowhere. It was important that we started off on that note. In terms of the players, exceptionally welcoming. They are really hungry to learn and to get better.
“In terms of the staff everybody just wants to play their part and add to the team and in a few weeks’ time, we will be going across to Jersey as a group waiting for some of the England boys to get back from Australia after their time away and some of the U20s and some players from other clubs who are still on their holidays.
“In Jersey, we will be together as a group and will discuss where we want to take this team and take this club. I have got a vision of where I believe we can go but you need buy-in from everybody. You have got to make sure that you dream big dreams because a coach I respect a lot taught me that you have got to dream big dreams because they make a man’s blood stir and that is what we are looking for – we want to dream big.
“We know we have got such a long way ahead of ourselves, we have got a lot of work to do but you have got to start somewhere and we started there last week.
“I am very excited to be here, incredible opportunity… Bath is what rugby is about. A rich tradition in Europe, a rich tradition in the English game. That is what you want to be part of, you want to be be part of clubs with values and history… Rugby is about connecting the club to the city and Bath is a city that is breathing rugby and we want to be connected to the city and that excites me.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments