Spend a few moments strolling around the Spa City of Bath and a number of features will grab your attention.
The wonderous Georgian architecture, the dominance of the meandering River Avon, the beauty of the Roman Baths, the riverside café food culture and, of course, the absolute passion the locals have for the blue, black and white of Bath Rugby.
River Cities
Since the arrival of Johann van Graan as Head of Rugby in 2022, that connectivity to rugby in Bath has changed its demeanour, going from frowns of frustration to smiles of success.
Club captain and England scrum-half Ben Spencer is well aware of the weight of both history and expectation that the players carry on their shoulders and he’s delighted that the city appears to be smiling once more.
“When I joined Bath one of the biggest attractions for me was to be part of a rugby-mad community,” Spencer confirmed.
“It’s one of the few cities in England where rugby completely dominates over football and that means that the club is a focal point for pub conversations, for socialising in person, and of course, it naturally goes some way to defining success for the area.
“It’s a fantastic environment. People stop and talk to you, they smile at you in the streets and there’s huge interest in what we’re doing, and of course, what we’re going to do next,” he chuckled.
“Funnily enough, I played for my former club, Saracens, in Lyon on a number of occasions and there’s real similarities between the two places. Lyon too, is magnificent architecturally, with some wonderfully imposing stone buildings, all woven around a huge river – the Saône- that sweeps through the city. Again, like Bath, rugby is a key part of the Lyon identity and there’s very much a café life culture, as there is here.
“So I guess it’s quite apt that we meet in the final- a nice coincidence. Two teams with a similar background and culture going for glory,” Spencer observed.
Van Graan Impact
Bath’s reemergence from zero to hero has very much been built around the vision of Van Graan. Since arriving three years ago, the former Springbok forwards specialist has delivered growth based around a real long-term and planned vision. From the bottom of the table, Bath reached the Premiership Final last season but now find themselves chasing a treble; the Premiership Cup, which they won in March, the Premiership itself and now the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Spencer believes that a lot of Bath’s success has been based around the simple values of their leadership group and van Graan in particular.
“Johann is a very considered, very detailed and very determined man,” he said.
“The journey we’ve been on has seen massive improvements but largely with the same playing group, which shows that the leadership is strong. I think the word that sums up Johann’s style is ‘honest’. He has a deeply rooted set of personal values and that comes through and gives him real authenticity and integrity. Given the size of squad we have, it’s inevitable that some players are in danger of getting frustrated through missing game time and the way he manages that is quite exceptional.
Spencer continued: “He gives absolute clarity to the guys, they know when they’re playing, what’s needed from them and what their work ons and their roles are. Of course, it’s not just ‘JVG’. We have a fantastic coaching team that are absolutely aligned in their thinking and their values- Lee Blackett, JP Ferreira, and Richard Blayze- a high-quality group who have all succeeded before at some level and a collective that really are driven by capturing major silverware.
“In short, the leadership has the absolute confidence of the players, and that’s absolutely vital if you want to kick on to winning the big trophies,” Spencer said.
Lyon Challenge
“We are very mindful and respectful of the challenge that Lyon will bring. Whenever you face a Top 14 side, you know just what a step up it’ll be in terms of pure physicality. It is a big man’s league, one where breakdown and collision dominance is absolutely vital to succeed and we are well aware of the quality Lyon possesses, especially in their forwards and their power game,” Spencer admired.
“Couple that with the pace and danger Lyon have in their back three, especially off transition, and we know we’re in for a tough battle, but we will plan our usual way and focus on what we do well rather than over analyse the opposition.
“That’s about us gaining the momentum and then retaining it. We have world-class forwards in our pack and we know that we can go toe to toe with the best, so it will be a big day for the lads up front.”
Many good judges have often commented on Ben Spencer’s style as being closer to a French nine than the traditional skillset of the nines of other nations. With many of the continental scrum halves employed as goal kickers, there’s a tradition in France that the nine is just as much a tactical leader as the ten in other nations, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Bath skipper.
“For me personally, I do relish playing against the French sides. They see the number nine shirt as a slightly different role to that of British teams. It’s very much the scrum half as the key game controller, ‘le petit général’ if you like- and it’s no coincidence that they produce world-class nine after world-class nine.
“There’s a big emphasis on the scrum half territorial kicking game over there, and, in modesty, that’s one of the things that I pride myself in doing as well as I can. And you’ll often see their nines as the primary goal kicker, showing the emphasis that they place on footballing skill in that position, again a role that I have fulfilled and enjoyed a number of times in my career. So, I guess on a personal level, playing against the French sides really tests you as a half-back and that’s something I’m really looking forward to in the Challenge Cup Final.”
Brass Bands and Happy Fans
As the Bath fans head to the Principality just down the M4 in Cardiff, Spencer is looking forward to the supporters adding a West Country voice to the Welsh rugby home. With all of Bath’s ticket allocation snapped up as soon as it was released, he hopes the support will act as an extra man for his team as Bath challenges for their second piece of silverware this season.
“I’m really looking forward to a piece of the Rec coming to the Principality,” Spencer smiled.
“It’s a real feature of our home games- the brass bands and the singing, something I also expect from the Lyon supporters. The noise, the colour and the vibrancy- all things that make you want to put your boots on as a player.
“When we have support like that, we are very aware, as a team, of the responsibility we hold towards our wonderful fan base and, rest assured, we will be doing everything we can do to send them home to Bath with some more silverware in what promises to be a crackerjack of a match.”
Reproduced with agreement from EPCR
READ MORE: Ted Hill reveals how Johann van Graan is getting Bath ‘back on zero’ for treble charge
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ben-spencer-hails-absolutely-vital-johann-van-graan-traits-as-bath-chase-challenge-cup-glory
