Johann van Graan braces Bath for brutal 3 week window

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan has braced his Gallagher Premiership title contenders for “a massive challenge” in their remaining January games.

The west country club moved third in the Premiership behind Northampton and Harlequins with a 17-10 west country derby victory over Gloucester at the Recreation Ground.

And they will now begin preparations for mouth-watering Investec Champions Cup appointments with French heavyweights Racing 92 and Toulouse, before visiting fierce Premiership rivals Bristol.

“In the bigger scheme of things, this was a very important game,” Van Graan said, after two tries from full-back Tom de Glanville underpinned a hard-fought win.

“The fact we won will put us in a position among the contenders when we come back in March after the (Premiership) break.

“We are right in it with the fact we won today. We are in a good position, so hopefully February and March will be kind to us.

“We have got a pretty healthy squad. If you look at the next three weeks in isolation – Racing at home, Toulouse away and then Bristol away – we have got a massive challenge ahead of us.”

Bath recovered from a New Year’s Eve loss against Leicester as De Glanville struck in each half while there was also a touchdown for wing Will Muir, with fly-half Finn Russell adding one conversion.

Gloucester’s ninth successive Premiership defeat – their worst run of league results in the competition’s history – came after they led 10-5 at half-time following a Ruan Ackermann try plus a conversion and penalty from fly-half Adam Hastings.

But a losing bonus point will provide scant consolation, especially as they finished the game strongly and caused Bath plenty of problems.

“I think if we had played liked that all season, we would be in a different part of the table,” Gloucester boss George Skivington said.

“I am pretty pleased with what I saw. I know we didn’t win the game, and probably a draw would have been a fair result.

“I haven’t got too many complaints. The boys’ attitude was outstanding. When we stuck to the plan, we looked good.

“We are playing good rugby. That is a one-score game against a full-strength Bath who are playing extremely well.

“There is context around everything. My job is to keep doing what I am doing. There is no-one not working hard.”