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Johann van Graan hails ‘phenomenal game’ with Northampton despite Bath’s loss

By PA
BATH, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 20: Johann van Graan, Bath Head of Rugby, looks on prior to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Bath Rugby and Northampton Saints at Recreation Ground on September 20, 2024 in Bath, England. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

Johann van Graan believed Bath’s enthralling game with Northampton was a great advert for the Gallagher Premiership as the league leaders went down 35-34 at Franklin’s Gardens thanks to a last-minute penalty from Fin Smith.

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It was rough justice on Bath, who showed remarkable resilience to comeback from 19-0 down to outscore their opponents five tries to four, but the two points they picked up still allowed them to extend their lead to six points at the top of the table.

Joe Cokanasiga scored two tries for Bath. Orlando Bailey, Will Stuart and Max Ojomoh were also on the scoresheet, with Finn Russell converting three and adding a penalty.

George Hendy, Fraser Dingwall, James Ramm and Josh Kemeny scored Saints’ tries, with Smith kicking three conversions and three penalties.

“It was a phenomenal game and certainly an emotional roller-coaster, but we’ll just have to take our two points and move on,” Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan said.

“Saints had so much speed and accuracy early on and converted well in that opening 20 minutes. but then our power got us back into the game.

“The guys are obviously gutted as they fought so hard, but we showed we are tough to beat and if we go anywhere in the world we’ll fight all the way.

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“We showed our ability to bounce back when we lost Guy (Pepper) and Will (Muir) to hamstring injuries early on and then later Jaco Coetzee with a head injury.”

A defeat for the reigning champions would surely have ruled them out of contention for a play-off spot this season, but the bonus-point victory kept them in mix in eighth place and still eight points off with eight games remaining.

“It was a massive relief when Fin knocked the kick over as we had played some really good stuff, but became scrappy in the second half,” Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said.

“We were 19-0 up, but went into our shells in the third quarter and struggled to exit quickly.

“We obviously will take loads from the win as you can’t coach grit, but there will only be a change in momentum and fortune if we can kick on from here in our next games.

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“We showed great character after going behind in the 77th minute as we reclaimed a short kick-off and then went through the phases to win a penalty.”

Smith claimed the man-of-the-match award with a measured performance and a tally of 15 points.

“Before the last kick, I genuinely thought that this better go over as by missing the previous two, I thought I’d let the boys down,” Smith said.

“I wasn’t super-confidence, but it went over and it was one of the biggest kicks of my career.

“It felt massive as this game was make or break for us and if we had lost that would have been the end of our league season.”

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f
fl 29 minutes ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”

He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.


“He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”

He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).


If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.


“You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”

Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.


“Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”

Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.


“You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”

Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.

But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.


Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.

Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.


So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.


Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.

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AlanCriner 59 minutes ago
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NB 2 hours ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

https://www.london.edu/think/how-claudio-ranieri-transformed-leicester-city


He jts knew how to use that deep well of knowledge accumulate over many years of management. A true Moneyball story!

168 Go to comments
f
fl 3 hours ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“Two comparable achievements 15 years apart (at different clubs in different leagues) represent failure and not continued success for an elite level coach/manager? Not even a hint of consistency? Just gradual, inevitable decline? And all because he is in his sixth decade?”

Why don’t you try reading what I wrote before you start inventing a load of other random things that I didn’t say. I said “Pep hasn’t gotten better with age”. He hasn’t. I don’t think he’s got much worse, and yeah, he’s been fairly consistent over his career and has had more success than almost any other coach. But he hasn’t gotten better.


“You’ve missed that Mourinho’s early start in football was as a translator for Bobby Robson (ironically a much older manager at the time!).”

I was actually aware of that. I didn’t mention it because it wasn’t relevant to the fact that Mourinho - aged 52 - had more experience than Arteta does at 43. It also isn’t ironic that Bobby Robson was a much older manager at the time - it actually confirms by point that a lot of the top football managers used to be older than they are today.


“You suggested that Les Kiss would not be suited to an international coaching role because of his age profile…that seemed to relate to rugby”

That did relate to rugby. Let me walk you through the thread…


NB suggested that Les Kiss should become Australia head coach in 2027.

I said: “Given the drop off so many top coaches seem to experience as they get older (e.g. Jones, Gatland) Kiss could be a riskier appointment than you’d think!”

NB said: “Drawing a parallel with the NFL and NBA, plenty of coaches stay well into their 70’s”

I said: “Not all sports are going the same way though” then gave the example of football.


The example of football was introduced in order to make the point that the age profile of managers is not the same in every sport. If you had read the thread you were replying to you would know this!

168 Go to comments
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LONG READ No definites, but which Wales players could still make Lions squad? No definites, but which Wales players could still make Lions squad?
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