'I have the utmost respect for him' - Johann van Graan hails Bok star

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan was happy to see his side end their first batch of Gallagher Premiership games “top of the log” after a six-try 40-13 defeat of Sale.

The competition goes into a month-long break for the autumn internationals with Bath sitting proudly on five wins from their six games.

Van Graan said: “The danger after last season and [reaching] the final was kind of expecting that things would just happen, so credit to the playing group. You’ve got to be in this race at the back end of May, which is a long time away.

“We did what we needed to do in the first six rounds – I believe we’re currently top of the log.

“From a consistency point of view, throughout the whole of the Premiership last season plus the last six rounds now, that’s 24 rounds in a row we’ve been in the top four, which shows we’ve become a better team and we’ve become consistent.

“That’s all we’re looking to do. We’re happy with where we are tonight.”

Will Muir, Miles Reid, Thomas du Toit, Ted Hill, Tom Carr-Smith and Francois van Wyk all crossed for tries, Finn Russell converting all but Van Wyk’s score, while the Sharks’ only reply came from Will Addison with Rob du Preez kicking eight points.

Asked about the form and impact of Springbok prop Du Toit, Van Graan said: “What can I say about the man? He came across from South Africa with his family and just fitted in.

“He was player of the season and scored the most tries as a prop. He then goes away to the Rugby Championship, comes back and carries on. I have the utmost respect for him.

“Where else in the world can you find a loosehead and tighthead combined into one? How good are his hands, putting Will Muir through the gap for his try? That was something we worked on during the week, little tweaks like that.

“The doc also put stiches in him at half-time, and he comes out and performs again for the next 30 minutes.”

Not such good news for Van Graan was a lower leg injury to flanker Guy Pepper after colliding with team-mate Reid.

“Guy is in pain, on crutches,” he said. “The way that he fell it looks pretty serious.

“Another player that I thought played really well today, and the last few weeks. It’s part and parcel of the game.”

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson agreed that the four-week break in the Premiership programme had come at the right time.

“We get a bit of time off for the lads who’ve been on the hamster wheel for the last six weeks, plus the warm-up games,” he said. “We’ve come back strong in the past after these mini-breaks.

“We know what to put right – and we know we’re going to put it right – which is to be better defensively. You can’t shift 90-odd points in two weeks and want to compete right at the top level. You just can’t do it.

“So we’ve got four weeks now to do in-depth analysis into our systems and our mentality around what kind of team we want to be.

“Most importantly, we have to pull tight after a couple of big losses. The alternative is that you splinter but it’s not that kind of group.

“I don’t think it was about work ethic or mentality here today.”