Van Graan’s attitude just right for us, says Spencer
Bath captain Ben Spencer says one of the most impressive things about Johann van Graan is how quickly he got buy-in from all the players in his role as head of rugby.
When the South African arrived from Munster two seasons ago Bath had sunk to an all-time low, finishing bottom of the Premiership table for the first time in the club’s history at the end of the 2021/22 season.
Van Graan always insisted that the rebuilding job would take some time, stressing to Bath’s board that he wasn’t the man for the job if they were looking for a short-term fix.
However, it has taken him less than two years to transform Bath’s fortunes, albeit aided and abetted by the cheque book of Bruce Craig and the sudden availability of players such as Alfie Barbeary, Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill from Wasps and Worcester.
“I think the biggest challenge Johann had when he came to the club was getting all the players on board and he managed to do that so quickly,” said Spencer, below.
“You could tell the way he wanted to play the game within the first half an hour of Johann’s first game in charge. So to get that buy-in from the lads as soon as he came in speaks for itself.
“And then, in terms of his man-management and the way he goes about managing people who are not necessarily in the 23 every weekend.
“I’d imagine it is pretty tough job to manage 60-odd blokes and trying to fit them into the 23 each week and keep everyone happy.
“But he has managed to do that and I think it is the best that the group has probably felt since I joined the club (in 2020).”
Meanwhile, fellow senior player Charlie Ewels believes that consistency and clarity of message are two of van Graan’s best qualities.
The England lock said: “He is extremely consistent, he is probably one of the most consistent coaches I have ever seen, he doesn’t just say those things, he lives those things. Whenever we win or we lose, the Johann we get on a Monday is extremely consistent.
“He works incredibly hard and the players see that and ultimately his coaching has taken us f r o m the bottom of the log to somewhere near the top of the log so the proof is in the pudding.
“A combination of those three things make it quite easy to buy into what he is thinking and what he wants us to do.”
