Johann van Graan: ‘There wasn’t any talk of redemption’ after Bath thump Northampton in Premiership opener
Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan looks on before a game.
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said his team were not on a revenge mission after they kicked off their 2024/25 Premiership campaign with a 38-16 victory over champions Northampton on Friday.
Van Graan’s charges suffered a narrow defeat against the Saints in the 2023/24 Premiership final and hit the ground running in the new campaign as they outscored their opponents by five tries to one at the Recreational Ground.
Although they held a narrow 21-16 lead by the hour mark, Bath finished with a flurry and were deserved winners in the end and Van Graan couldn’t hide his delight after the match.
‘We didn’t waste any energy on the final’
“It was an important start for us against a very good team,” he said. “We didn’t waste any energy on the final this week. We reviewed it a few weeks ago.
“Obviously, our last game was in the final against Northampton, but there wasn’t any talk of redemption or we’ve got to get one over them.
“It was Northampton first up, one of 18 (Premiership) games, against a very good side.
“We need to perform right through the season, as we did last season, to be in contention at the back end of May.”
Bath dominated most facets of play and were rewarded with tries from Joe Cokanasiga, flanker Ted Hill, scrum-half Ben Spencer, centre Ollie Lawrence and replacement back-row Jaco Coetzee.
Meanwhile, their other points came via the boot of fly-half Finn Russell who slotted five conversions and a penalty.
For Saints, flanker Josh Kemeny crossed the whitewash while Fin Smith booted a conversion and three penalties.
The visitors were without star scrum-half Alex Mitchell, who was ruled out due to a neck injury, and Northampton boss Phil Dowson said the club are awaiting scan results.
It was also Saints’ first competitive match without former stalwarts like Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Alex and Ethan Waller, who either joined French clubs or retired.
“Players leave every year. It is probably highlighted because the players who left last season were stalwarts, club legends and very good players,” Dowson said.
“At the same time, we are a club that develops our own and we have got guys coming through.
“We are not talking about being champions. We haven’t won a game this season and we move on to Exeter next weekend and make sure we learn the lessons from today.
Not entirely happy with first half performance
“In the first half, we didn’t quite get it right and we didn’t really exert any pressure on them in their own half.
“At the start of the second half I thought we were excellent and at 21-16 I thought we were in with a shout. Then we give away what turns out to be quite a soft try and we start chasing the game and it gets away from us.
“The energy and physicality and those base-line things were excellent. We can coach everything else and get better at all the other things. We just didn’t quite get it right in terms of how we played.”
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