Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said his team’s win at Mattioli Woods Welford Road against the Leicester Tigers was “a big point in the club’s journey.”
The Blue, Black and White were not perfect, but they were able to grind out and secure a rare away win at Welford Road with a 20-15 victory, making it two wins from two to start the 2024/25 Premiership season.
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In what was a game filled with errors from both teams, but engaging throughout, tries from Will Muir, Tom de Glanville and Guy Pepper gave Bath the win, plus a conversion from Finn Russell and a penalty from captain Ben Spencer, showing that they have the ability to find victory even when they are not firing on all cylinders, a vital trait for the push to return to the league final. For Leicester, there were plenty of opportunities to back up last week’s win against the Exeter Cheifs, but they could only score through tries from Jack van Poortvleit and Dan Cole, with Jamie Shillcock adding a penalty and a conversion.
Speaking post-match at Welford Road, having not won there in his first two season at Bath, Van Graan said: “It’s a tough place to come to. We know coming up to Welford Road this is one of the hardest places to come and play. We thought that we were going to come up against a highly emotional team, a physical team, which we did.
“Both teams had opportunities, 10-5 at half-time. We prepared for an 80-minute performance. We looked at what teams that won here in the past did, and you need a strong bench, and I thought our impact players delivered. One thing I’m very proud of the team is we problem-solved really well today. I haven’t been involved in a game in a long time where you lose both your wingers. A good win for us, I’m really happy about that.”
Bath’s ability adapt to disruptions in the backline was markedly improved for last season’s last 16 knockout round game away at Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup when his backline struggled to function after they was forced into a reshuffle following injuries to Finn Russell and Cam Redpath. This weekend, despite losing Joe Cokanasiga and Will Muir to a HIA and knee injury respectively, which resulted in first flanker Josh Bayliss and then scrum-half Tom Carr-Smith playing on the wings, the Blue, Black and White managed to find a way to victory.
Van Graan said: “The Premiership is so long. You don’t know what you’re going to need at the back end of May. We as a group said, last season, we started very well against Newcastle. Then we went to the StoneX [stadium] and we won at Saracens for the first time.
“This year, we had a very good performance last Friday night [against Northampton], and now, we come nine days later to Welford Road, a place where we, as a group, haven’t won in the last three years.
“This was a big point in our journey and you’ve got to come through when things are not perfect. It doesn’t matter what they look like, they’re all counted as a win so I’m very happy with two out of two,” concluded Van Graan.
Bath now turn their attention to Bristol Bears who come to the Recreation Ground on Saturday in the first of two back-to-back derbies.
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