JOHANN VAN GRAAN has always been good at removing emotion from the rugby side of things, but the visit of Munster to Bath this weekend brought memories of good times in Ireland flooding back.
The South African was in Limerick from 2017 until 2022 and though his Munster side weren’t able to take the final step and win silverware during that time, van Graan enjoyed what was his first-ever head coach role and learned a huge amount.
Bath are the beneficiaries now, with van Graan guiding them to the Premiership title last season, as well as further trophies in the Challenge Cup and Premiership Rugby Cup.
The Champions Cup is their next target and Bath made a strong start to their tilt at the title with last night’s 40-14 demolition of Munster.
This was van Graan’s first time coaching against Munster since deciding to leave the province for Bath and speaking post-match, he reflected on good times in Ireland.
“We went to Dublin two weeks ago with our family for the Springboks Test and met up with many of our Irish friends because we’ve got so many friends still back there,” said van Graan.
“Quite a few families from our kids’ school came over and visited us; they were at our home this morning. It will always be a happy time in our life.
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Van Graan with JJ Hanrahan and Fineen Wycherley. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“Our daughter was born there and, as I’ve said many times, we absolutely loved our time at Munster.
“It’s a big chunk of our lives that we spent in Castleconnell. I keep in contact with so many guys still, so many of the coaching staff, the general staff and the players. Ultimately, you do it for the players.
“Whether it’s the Bulls, the Springboks, Munster or Bath, I think rugby is about community, and I loved my time there.
“It was pretty hostile when we walked in [to the Rec before the game], which is typical Munster, and I think that’s why they are so renowned for their travelling support. That’s what the Champions Cup needs, travelling support.
“Look, great memories but I think I’m in the now. I’m absolutely loving my time at Bath. It’s now three-and-a-half years, and the people are fantastic. Starting with the players, they are all in.
“We’ve created quite a few moments in time as reference points, and driven by the players, we want to keep getting better. Obviously, what happened last season, nobody can ever take away from us. It was an amazing nine weeks, but that was because of three years of hard work.
“Who knows what happens in this competition? We said we want to do well in every single game that we play. We knew tonight was a big night for us to start this campaign, and I thought we did that.”
Van Graan said he’s certain that Munster still have a big role to play in Pool 2 despite leaving Bath empty-handed.
Clayton McMillan with van Graan in Bath. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Clayton McMillan’s side learned some harsh lessons at The Rec, with Bath doing an excellent job on their lineout and scrum, as well as in the aerial contests.
Van Graan confirmed that Bath felt they could get an upper hand at the lineout and maul.
“Doing our own work on them and then looking at our game, we thought we could get one or two ins,” said van Graan, whose Bath side visit Toulon next weekend.
“Add to that the conditions, once you get entries from both sides, it isn’t easy to stop. Our game drivers got us in the right position, so I thought that we were more dominant, and then I thought that at scrum time we had the ascendancy.
“And then, if you look at them, they are very comfortable to defend around the 22-metre line, but where there has been a little bit of pressure specifically in the last few weeks, it’s five yards out.
“So that’s also one of our strengths, and we just needed to make sure we got some entries. I thought we did that well.
“On the flip side, we’ve got a lot of respect for them and knew that they would keep coming and at half-time, the game wasn’t over. I think what we did really well is we let them play in their own half, which was pretty difficult to do.
“I think the only try of the second half was a good example of them just not being able to stop all the holes anymore.
“But I think we’ve managed it well and we stuck to our plan, and ultimately we scored four tries in the first 18 minutes, which showed our dominance.”
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'We absolutely loved our time at Munster' - Bath boss van Graan
JOHANN VAN GRAAN has always been good at removing emotion from the rugby side of things, but the visit of Munster to Bath this weekend brought memories of good times in Ireland flooding back.
The South African was in Limerick from 2017 until 2022 and though his Munster side weren’t able to take the final step and win silverware during that time, van Graan enjoyed what was his first-ever head coach role and learned a huge amount.
Bath are the beneficiaries now, with van Graan guiding them to the Premiership title last season, as well as further trophies in the Challenge Cup and Premiership Rugby Cup.
The Champions Cup is their next target and Bath made a strong start to their tilt at the title with last night’s 40-14 demolition of Munster.
This was van Graan’s first time coaching against Munster since deciding to leave the province for Bath and speaking post-match, he reflected on good times in Ireland.
“We went to Dublin two weeks ago with our family for the Springboks Test and met up with many of our Irish friends because we’ve got so many friends still back there,” said van Graan.
“Quite a few families from our kids’ school came over and visited us; they were at our home this morning. It will always be a happy time in our life.
“Our daughter was born there and, as I’ve said many times, we absolutely loved our time at Munster.
“It’s a big chunk of our lives that we spent in Castleconnell. I keep in contact with so many guys still, so many of the coaching staff, the general staff and the players. Ultimately, you do it for the players.
“Whether it’s the Bulls, the Springboks, Munster or Bath, I think rugby is about community, and I loved my time there.
“It was pretty hostile when we walked in [to the Rec before the game], which is typical Munster, and I think that’s why they are so renowned for their travelling support. That’s what the Champions Cup needs, travelling support.
“Look, great memories but I think I’m in the now. I’m absolutely loving my time at Bath. It’s now three-and-a-half years, and the people are fantastic. Starting with the players, they are all in.
“We’ve created quite a few moments in time as reference points, and driven by the players, we want to keep getting better. Obviously, what happened last season, nobody can ever take away from us. It was an amazing nine weeks, but that was because of three years of hard work.
“Who knows what happens in this competition? We said we want to do well in every single game that we play. We knew tonight was a big night for us to start this campaign, and I thought we did that.”
Van Graan said he’s certain that Munster still have a big role to play in Pool 2 despite leaving Bath empty-handed.
Clayton McMillan’s side learned some harsh lessons at The Rec, with Bath doing an excellent job on their lineout and scrum, as well as in the aerial contests.
Van Graan confirmed that Bath felt they could get an upper hand at the lineout and maul.
“Doing our own work on them and then looking at our game, we thought we could get one or two ins,” said van Graan, whose Bath side visit Toulon next weekend.
“Add to that the conditions, once you get entries from both sides, it isn’t easy to stop. Our game drivers got us in the right position, so I thought that we were more dominant, and then I thought that at scrum time we had the ascendancy.
“And then, if you look at them, they are very comfortable to defend around the 22-metre line, but where there has been a little bit of pressure specifically in the last few weeks, it’s five yards out.
“So that’s also one of our strengths, and we just needed to make sure we got some entries. I thought we did that well.
“On the flip side, we’ve got a lot of respect for them and knew that they would keep coming and at half-time, the game wasn’t over. I think what we did really well is we let them play in their own half, which was pretty difficult to do.
“I think the only try of the second half was a good example of them just not being able to stop all the holes anymore.
“But I think we’ve managed it well and we stuck to our plan, and ultimately we scored four tries in the first 18 minutes, which showed our dominance.”
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bath familiar face Johann van Graan jvg Munster