Bath have ‘zero regrets’ over Gallagher Premiership final defeat, says Johann van Graan - ‘I can’t be prouder’

Bath Rugby head coach Johann van Graan has reflected on the club’s Gallagher Premiership final defeat to Northampton Saints and admitted that the group have “zero regrets” despite the outcome.

Alex Mitchell’s late try lifted Saints to a gritty 25-21 victory over 14-man Bath at Twickenham on Saturday, for the club’s first title in 10 years.

After an impressive season under Van Graan which saw his team finish second in the table, level on points with Saints, Bath were hoping to clinch their first Premiership crown since the club’s double-winning 1996 campaign.

In just two years under South African Van Graan, Bath have risen from a team who finished bottom of the league to genuine title contenders.

"I can't be prouder of this group," Van Graan insisted following the weekend’s final defeat.

"From a belief point of view, everybody at the club stuck in it until the last play of the game and we as a group have got zero regrets.

"There's a belief in what we do,” he added. “In the past 23 months, we've clearly become a group that know what we're about.”

Bath overturned a 12-point deficit to lead Northampton 21-18 with 14 minutes left on the clock, despite prop Beno Obano’s first-half dismissal leaving Van Graan’s side with a player disadvantage for much of the contest.

After Saints retook the lead with eight minutes remaining, Bath had an opportunity to score in the final seconds of the match which would likely have snatched victory, but it was not to be.

Bath captain Ben Spencer - a four-time Premiership champion with Saracens - labelled his side’s performance as “heroic” following their spirited response to going a player behind.

"I think we showed what sort of team we are,” he said. 

“A team that's tough to beat, a team that's hard to play against and a team that loves a challenge.”

No. 8 Alfie Barbeary was sacrificed by Bath during a tactical overhaul following Obano’s early dismissal.

The 23-year-old feels that the disappointing end to the season can be used as a positive in the future.

"We can be proud of the journey we've been on this season,” he said. “We've been a hell of a team, another day we'd have taken that.

"We're all sticking around for the next few years and hopefully we'll do it again and again. 

“We don't want it to stop so let's just build and go from there."

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.