Bath battle back to grab elite spot

THE final round of the regular Premiership season boiled down to who would claim England’s final place in next season’s Champions Cup.

- PAUL REES

The three contenders were all West Country clubs, which highlighted how Gloucester, Bristol and Bath had all underperformed throughout the campaign.

They were left chasing the consolation prize. Gloucester and Bristol faded after strong starts and it will be Bath, who were bottom of the table for much of the season after losing their first six matches, joining the elite of Europe and South Africa.

“We said we had to become tough to beat and I feel we have,” said Bath’s head of rugby Johann van Graan who took over last summer after the club had finished bottom of what was then a 13-strong division.

“There is a clear way that we play the game now and we became better as our fitness improved. All credit to the players, but we still have a long way to go. Reaching the top eight is testament to the hard work of a lot of people.

“We talked from the beginning about connection, clarity and commitment and we kept fighting. You saw the commitment in our final game Saracens. You could see the belief was back.”

That belief will be stoked next season when the Scotland outside-half Finn Russell arrives after the World Cup in France. Bath’s attack improved considerably in the second half of the campaign: they secured a try bonus point in each of their last six matches and centre Ollie Lawrence was named the Premiership’s player of the season.