We’ll pick our best team for Exeter, says Bath coach

By PAUL REES

Bath will pick their strongest available side at Exeter in Saturday's Champions Cup last 16 with head coach Johann van Graan billing it as a massive game for the 1998 winners.

It is nine years since Bath last reached the knockout stages and as a former head coach of Munster, van Graan places a high value on the tournament.

“It is an incredible competition,” said van Graan. “It pitches the best teams in the league together and I grew to love it at Munster where the support home and away was unbelievable.

“It is a massive game for us because of the nine-year wait and we are looking forward to it. We have big games coming up in the Champions Cup and the Premiership and our plan is to be alive in both competitions for as long as possible.

“We are dreaming big dreams but we are doing it in a humble way. Who knows what the future will bring? Bath have carried the burden of the past and what happened in 1998 for too long.”

It is van Graan's second season in charge at the Rec and he has helped turn Bath from a club that battled to avoid finishing bottom of the Premiership to one intent on winning the competition for the first time.

Van Graan has regularly rotated his team this season and sent a virtual reserve side to Leicester over the Christmas period so his leading players could have 10 days off.

“There is a very fine balance in selection every club has to strike,” he said. “We have five games left and potentially more to come if we perform. We have managed the squad well and you have to be able to adapt.

“Some weeks might see more changes than others depending on what happens but the stakes are now very high. We will keep with the policy and see how the next few weeks develop.

“The squad trust the system and the communication is very good. We all know where we want to end up. There is amazing competition in the squad and whether you play for your national team does not guarantee you selection every week.

Boss: Johann van Graan

“Big games are coming up and we see them as an opportunity. We have come a long way quickly because we followed a process. We have done a lot of work on the mental side and we have been winning games in different ways.”

Six Premiership clubs are involved in the last 16, five of them previous winners of the competition. Harlequins are the exception and they take on Glasgow at The Stoop on Friday night.

Exeter face Bath at Sandy Park the following day – the fixture is repeated in the Premiership two weeks later – followed by the visit of Saracens to Bordeaux-Begles, where they were beaten 55-15 in January, and Leicester's trip to Leinster who won 27-10 at Welford Road two months ago.

Sunday sees another group match rerun with Northampton taking on Munster at Franklin's Gardens having won 26- 23 at Thomond Park in their final group match to maintain their 100 per cent record.

Gloucester welcome Castres in the Challenge Cup having beaten them 35-5 at Kingsholm at the group stage. They are unbeaten in 11 cup matches this season.

■ No.8 Jaco Coetzee has signed a one-year contract extension to stay at Bath until the end of 2024-25. The 27-year-old South African joined during 2020- 21 but saw his playing time initially hindered by injuries. “It's been great to come back from a long spell on the sidelines to playing some of my best rugby yet,” Coetzee said.

Flanker Josh Bayliss, hooker John Stewart and full-back Tom de Glanville have also re-signed.