Bath Rugby have confirmed a trio of long-term contract extensions for three of the club's senior coaches in JP Ferreira, Lee Blackett and Richard Blaze to provide stability and continuity under the leadership of Johann van Graan for years to come.

The trio have helped mastermind the club's resurgence under the leadership of the South African who arrived at the Recreation Ground as head of rugby in July 2022. The club reached the Premiership final last season for the first time since 2015 after finishing second in the table and currently sit atop the Gallagher Premiership after 11 rounds of this season’s competition.

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Van Graan said: "One of the things we are striving for at the club and have become very good at is continuity across our heads of department, coaches and our players. I am, therefore, extremely glad that we have that in our coaching group. Each of them has added to the journey that we’ve been on. It’s only our second year together as a coaching group so it’s exciting and encouraging to see where we, as a group of coaches, can take this team.

“JP has become one of the very best defensive coaches in Europe and has done excellent work as our coaching co-ordinator. Lee has been fantastic since he’s come into the club and what he has done with the attack and backs has been brilliant. Blazey has brought a real consistency to our forward pack and has given clear direction as to where we are going.

“Most importantly all three are very good men who always put the team first, are making players better and I trust them because they care for this team so much.”

Defence coach and coaching co-ordinator Ferreira, who was also part of van Graan's coaching set-up at Munster Rugby before the pair joined Bath together, said: “I’m really happy to be signing on, and I’m so excited to be carrying on with the journey. To have the opportunity to build more memories with the players and staff here at the club is so exciting. We have an amazing group of young men that I’m privileged to coach, and I’m really happy to be staying on.”

Attack coach Blackett, who joined Bath at the start of the 2023/24 season having previously coached at Wasps and Rotherham Titans, said: “We have a group here that really trust each other, and that is so important, especially in the coaching team. There is a real feeling that we are all in this together and we all want to win together as a group. I’m so pleased to renew with the club, and I’m so excited to continue the journey.”

Forwards coach Blaze began his coaching career at Leicester Tigers before taking roles with Wasps, Loughborough and both the England U20 and Women's teams before linking up with the Blue, Black and White for the 2023/24 campaign. He said: “I’m very privileged to do this role at a club with such a rich history and loyal fanbase. There are exciting times ahead on this journey, and I’m proud to be working alongside some great staff and a hungry, driven playing group who want to get better every single day. I'm grateful for the opportunity to extend my time here at Bath Rugby, and I'm excited to see where this group can go together.”