‘Club with no hope’ to treble winners – Bath’s journey to Gallagher Premiership glory under Johann van Graan

Bath beat Leicester Tigers 23-21 at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Saturday to clinch a historic treble, having already claimed the Premiership Cup and Challenge Cup this season. 

It marks a defining point in the club’s turnaround, having finished bottom of the Premiership in the 2021/22 campaign before Van Graan took over in the subsequent summer. 

They went within touching distance of Premiership glory last season but fell at the last hurdle, losing out to Northampton Saints in the final.

But Van Graan’s men have been a dominant force this season, finishing the regular season 11 points clear of Leicester in second, and the South African has expressed his gratitude to the club and the city for their efforts over the course of his tenure. 

Speaking at full-time, the Bath head coach told TNT Sports: “At the final whistle, I was just thankful, grateful for this journey that started almost three years ago – July 11th 2022. 

“A club with no hope, we started to work on our hope on a journey day by day, and then we moved into belief.

“Today – connection, satisfaction and more, just grateful for everybody of Bath.

“Everybody in this group are themselves, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what your beliefs are, what the colour of your skin is, we’re all in all the time.”

“I’m just so privileged to be the coach of this group, an incredible group of men and women.”

He later added: “It’s been a real club effort, right from the top to the bottom for the people of this amazing club.”

The victory sees Bath end their 29-year wait for a seventh Premiership title, having finished runners-up on five occasions since their last triumph in 1996.  

But they had not gone close in the years leading up to Van Graan’s arrival, qualifying for the play-offs just once between 2016 and 2022, and failing to make a final in that time. 

Having now reached Twickenham two seasons on the spin, the head coach believes Saturday’s victory is going to be a transformative one, with his side’s journey in the last three years having “awoken a city”.

The 45-year-old said: “I came here and it was quiet, people felt sorry for us, and then we said we’re going to hang our hat on one thing – tough to beat.

“The belief started to grow, and it’s awoken a city, and it doesn’t matter where people were all over the world, they’re all in with this team.

“For the years to come, to win one trophy, to win two, now to win three. 

“But you don’t become a champion when you win a trophy, you’re a champion every day of your life, and this group of people have been champions for the last three years.”

After having it pointed out that the front of his notepad reads: “The best is yet to come 2025,” Van Graan was asked if he was already looking ahead to further success.

The Bath head coach admitted that he was going to “take his time” enjoying Saturday’s triumph for reasons beyond rugby, but that he believes “the best is yet to come” for his vastly talented squad. 

He said: “When people pass away, you always realise you’ve got to enjoy it, and some people close to the team have passed away in the last few weeks, some people back home.

“For me, you’ve got one life, you’ve got to enjoy it with the people around you, and we only have today, we don’t have tomorrow, so we enjoy today.”

He added: “In five weeks, we start again on zero, but then the best is yet to come.”