Johann van Graan happy Bath kept ‘the foot on the throat’ in win over Exeter

Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan was delighted with his side’s impressive 41-24 win over Exeter Chiefs in the West Country derby on Saturday.

The home side was powered by an Alfie Barbeary brace whilst Cameron Redpath, Ben Spencer, Joe Cokanasiga and Will Butt also crossed the whitewash in front of a packed crowd at the Rec.

Kept momentum

The coach expected a big challenge and was pleased with how well his team started but even more so with how they maintained their momentum throughout the game.

“I knew this was going to be a battle,” he said. “We prepared that way and we started really, really well, going 12-0 up. This was one of our best disciplined performances but in their first entry we gave them (to our 22), they scored off the one phase.

“Going into half-time we spoke about it being a 23-man effort and that we had to manage the weather and the big moments. I felt we did that in the second half.”

He added: “We managed their yellow card really well in terms of getting momentum, something that we’ve worked on – keeping the foot on the throat.

“I thought we created a lot in the first half. Not everything went to hand but we had a dominant scrum and the line-out went well tonight. Once we got over the gain line we were difficult to beat.”

Van Graan praised man of the match Sam Underhill, who was outstanding on the night, with the coach singling out his influence in attack as particularly impressive.

“I thought he was really good, with some big moments, not only defensively but also from an attacking point of view: his running lines, his offloading decisions, when to keep the ball and when to offload,” he said.

Bath now shift their attention away from domestic competition with Ulster travelling to the Rec for a Champions Cup pool stage fixture next weekend.

Van Graan said: “We fought so hard last season to be in the Champions Cup. It’s a competition that I love. With the club I coached before I learnt so much about what it is about, and the history. We’ll enjoy tonight and on Monday morning it’s all about the Champions Cup.”

Poor discipline proved costly

Meanwhile, Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter admits his team’s lack of discipline was a massive contributor to the result.

“The yellow card murdered us, in that period of the game where it got away from us. But by the time that happened we had been the architects of a lot of what happened at the end,” he said.

“Our penalty count at one stage it was 13-3. I genuinely know the lads are working hard but sometimes, how quickly we lose the direction of our energy is quite scary. We scramble really well, which is part of what we are good at, and then someone goes off their feet and it’s a penalty.

“Then it’s territory, then it’s a try and we’re on the back end of the scoreboard through a lack of discipline. We need to find the root causes.”

“We’ve had some good results and we’re kind of at the right end of the table and that’s nice. We need to be careful we don’t expect too much of this squad though.”

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