‘I’m in the English system’ – Johann van Graan on his link with ‘good friend’ Steve Borthwick
Bath boss Johann van Graan looks on.
Former Blue Bulls and current Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan sees his side flying high at the top of the Premiership table as the tournament passes the halfway mark.
After a thrilling win against a challenging Harlequins at the Rec on Saturday, Van Graan spoke after Saturday’s clash to discuss his crucial role within the England rugby’s system.
National focus critical
With England discard Joe Cokanasiga starring in a 25-17 triumph against Quins, Van Graan couldn’t be happier with where his club is at in terms of both league position and form.
However, the Bath boss is a pragmatic man and is quick to point out that his work with the club is part of a much wider agenda of national success, something that benefits every part of the Premiership and rugby beyond.
“I’m in the English system now and I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the South African system and the Irish system and the story is always the same; if your team’s performance goes up then hopefully you get more players in the national team and the more players you get playing Test Rugby the more competitive you become as a club,” Van Graan explained.
“On days like today, we came up against a fully loaded Quins team packed full of internationals and that Test experience helps tremendously. So whilst I’m very proudly South African, I’m in England now, coaching an English club and we’ve got a dream for our team. That’s why I’m here to help them and to make this great club better.
“You want your players to play Test matches and hopefully that will improve them. And it proves to others by coming here that we, as a coaching group, can improve them.
“Ultimately, I always say I want to coach players in the way I hope somebody coaches my two boys and my little girl in the future. If we can have that kind of inclusive environment at Bath so much the better for all involved and that’s my aim.”
Borthwick admiration
Van Graan admits he’s been impressed by Steve Borthwick and his communication in terms of player improvement and targets.
With the England head coach starting anew with a fresh sheet of paper after an impressive World Cup campaign, the Bath boss confirmed his relationship with Borthwick couldn’t be more positive and cites him as a ‘good rugby friend’.
“Obviously, I was on the other side of the fence coaching with South Africa and we had a very good relationship with the South African teams. And, I’ve said it many times, I loved my time in Ireland (at Munster) and I learned so much in terms of our relationship between the Irish provinces and the Irish national team.
“Steve has become a very good rugby friend of mine and I’ve coached against him when he was at Japan and then at England and I respect him greatly.
“I’ll do anything in my power to make this club better but part of that is also to help the English national team because ultimately I’m coaching predominantly English players.
“Yes, we’ve got a few South African guys and a few Scotsman that are performing pretty well but ultimately we’re an English club.”
Cokanasiga work in progress
With Joe Cokanasiga starring in the Bath win against Quins, Van Graan points to the manner with which the big wing has bounced back from his World Cup disappointments, citing Borthwick’s communication as a key part of the player’s improvement.
“Yeah, I’m incredibly happy for Joe. He came back very disappointed to not go to the World Cup and feel left out after that Welsh test. But he’s had some very good communication from Steve and the England team on what he needed to work on and now we’re seeing so much improvement in his aerial game, once a weakness of his play. JP (Ferreira) has worked so hard with him here in terms of that aspect.
6️⃣ tries in his last 4️⃣ appearances for @BathRugby 🔥
There's no stopping @J_cokanasiga at the moment 👊 #GallagherPrem #BATvHAR pic.twitter.com/Rgy1YDlnqq
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) December 24, 2023
“I keep saying to Joe that he is the biggest wing I’ve ever coached! I’ve been fortunate enough to coach some very good and fast wingers but Joe’s size is something he can use so much and he used it today.
“I mean, those finishes tonight – the one then the left-hand corner where he literally ran over three guys and still had power to finish demonstrates my point.
“But the ball needs to get to him from a forwards perspective and from a distribution perspective – Ollie Lawrence has been critical in assisting Joe getting the space and ball in hand time that he craves.”
Looking ahead
“In the final analysis, when Bruce Craig got me over, I fully bought into his vision and part of that was the importance of feeding the English national team and I am enjoying that greatly.
“As we turn around top of the log I think for us it’s about not looking beyond next week. Keep being consistent. We say we want to get better every single week and every week we go back to zero.
“Do the exact same things in terms of review and preview because we respect all of the opposition. For us it’s not about topping the log for us. It’s about getting better every week if that means that we qualify for the playoffs this season then brilliant!
“But there’s still five months to go before we get there. So we’ll keep our feet firmly on the ground. I want to say again that we as a group are nowhere near where we want to be. I’ve never put a time on things but we’re looking at a long-term journey and getting better along that road.
“We won’t give ourselves a pat on the back. From a team perspective, let’s have a great Christmas with our families and we’ll be back in four days’ time.
“Only then will we look at the next game and I assure you we’ll treat that game the exact same as we’ve treated this one.”
