Bath boss keen to ‘expose’ players as Six Nations call-ups loom

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan is embracing the upcoming challenge of losing a large chunk of his squad to international call-ups for the Six Nations.

The Premiership outfit have enjoyed a stellar run of form this season and currently sit third on the Premiership standings after eight wins from 11 games.

They also head into the third round of Champions Cup action in second place in Pool 2 after two bonus point wins.

Test call ups

Bath’s upswing in form compared to last season means that they are likely to see more of their players called up for international duty in the coming weeks, with England head coach Steve Borthwick naming his initial Six Nations squad next Wednesday.

Bath look set to lose around 10 or 12 players to England, with a number of others heading to other nations. Van Graan has always embraced the fact that he is now part of the English rugby system and has gone on record saying he relishes improving players into that system, but will the sheer number of test call-ups that he’s likely to experience cause him headaches or a chance to celebrate?

“I don’t think it’s either, really,” he told Planet Rugby’s James While.

“Look, the reason I coach is to make a difference and I just love improving single player that both plays for the national team, whatever the nationality. Obviously, I’m in the English system, so the more players we can deliver for England, the better and playing international rugby should be the ultimate for any player or any coach, as I said before.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be a coach of my country (South Africa), and I’ve done so proudly. So, the more players from Bath playing test rugby, the happier I’ll be.

Opportunities for others

“Of course, that means that you expose the next player as the next man up, and there are some wonderful stories of guys that get the opportunity because somebody gets injured or gets called up for test rugby, and then that new person makes an impact and improves too, so for me it’s absolutely brilliant.”

He continued: “I can’t see how test call-ups can be a negative or an absolute positive. As coaches, our discussions never stop about making the players better, and in this instance, it’s about making the younger guy better and working out how we, as coaches, can improve the wider playing group.

“But it’s not about tapping ourselves in the back. It’s about making the players better, and that’s something I really enjoy doing.

“But that’s next week. Right now, we are focusing on a performance on Sunday – and that will need us to be our best – that’s what the Champions Cup is about. There’s absolutely no pressure on us, so it’s about attacking this game with all that we’ve got, and we’ve got a lot of trust in our systems and the way we’re playing.

“But make no mistake, this is our biggest challenge yet in the Champions Cup, and I am very excited for the Club.”

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