'A real 23-man effort' - Johann van Graan on a record-breaking Bath victory against Saracens
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said his side gave 'a real 23-man effort' as they scored ten tries against 14-man Saracens to seal a record-breaking 68-10 victory.
Four tries in the first half were backed up by six tries in the second half, resulting in Bath's biggest-ever victory against Saracens in the Premiership. For the London club, that defeat was the largest in club history, and it will be a game they will want to forget in a hurry.
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From the outset, the Blue, Black and White were the more dominant and aggressive team, with a penalty try on four minutes for the home side giving them the early lead, and they did not look back. Tries from Thomas du Toit, Cameron Redpath and Will Muir meant Bath wrapped up the bonus point in the first half. Two more tries for Muir meant he earned his first hat trick in a Blue, Black and White shirt, with Sam Underhill, Ollie Lawrence and a brace from Joe Cokanasiga capping off one of the great performances that the Rec has seen. Finn Russell was almost spotless from the kicking tee, missing just one of his nine conversions as he overtook Bristol's AJ MacGinty as the leading points scorer in the Premiership.
Saracens were put on the back foot after back row Toby Knight was sent off for a head-on-head collision with Lawrence, and that sealed the London club's fate, unable to challenge Bath at all. A consolation try from replacement hooker Kapeli Pifeleti, along with a conversion and a penalty goal from Fergus Burke were the only points for the away side.
Speaking post-match, Van Graan said: "I think we started the game really, really well. Half-time, we said, 'Let's be ruthless in the second half', and we won the second half by 40-27, so ten tries to one. I'm really happy with the performance.
"For me, the telling bit was the last five minutes where we kept going at them and kept wanting to score more. I saw a lot of very happy people at the Rec, and my aim is to get better each week and give smiles to the people of Bath. I thought we did that well today."
The city of Bath will be beaming from ear to ear, not just because of that stunning performance, but also because their side sits on top of the Premiership table as 2024 comes to an end.
"We said it before, we're dreaming big dreams but that's on the inside, that's on the inner circle. So we respect all nine of the other teams in the league. We did it last week against Newcastle, we did it tonight against Saracen and we'll do it again next week against Northampton," continued Van Graan.
"We just want to get better, and hopefully, by the end of the season, we'll be in a good position, and then who knows what might happen?"
It was also a performance that highlighted the brilliance of Russell and captain Ben Spencer, who both, arguably, had their best performances in a Bath Rugby shirt, which the South African was extremely pleased with too.
"I think he [Spencer] and Finn's relationship was again spot on in terms of their decision-making. I'll add Tom de Glanville into that mix. You're 9, 10, 15 are your main decision-makers. I thought the spine of our team was also good today.
"We've got a quality squad. At the end of the day, players must perform on the pitch. It's my job to prepare them as best as I can. Hopefully, they perform on the day, and I thought they performed well today. I believe that's where the game is at," concluded Van Graan.
