It has been a while but the old firm of English club rugby are finally back. Between 1978 and 1997 Bath andLeicestercollectively won 15 national knockout trophies and over the first 15 years of the league’s existence they claimed 12 titles between them. Their reunion at Twickenham is akin to those other 90s chart-toppers, Oasis and Blur, dusting down their favourite guitars and appearing on stage together.
The temptation is to dive head first into a foaming tub of nostalgia and wallow in the rekindled rivalry. If anyone had predicted in 1996 thatBathwould not win another domestic title in the next 29 years they would have been laughed out of the convivial old Rec clubhouse. Leicester, similarly, thought the ABC Club and the Tigers’ steely winning mentality would live for ever.
It is the here and now, though, that really matters in a grand final week. And how interesting that it has taken a South African and an Australian, neither of whom played Test rugby, to bring the good times rolling back to two famous English institutions. At first glance the outwardly calm, process-oriented Johann van Graan and the more animated Michael Cheika might not appear to have much in common. But drill a little deeper and the renaissance of their respective teams has been built on broadly the same tenets.
Both are widely travelled family men who have long since understood that coaching is ultimately about people. And, specifically, about channelling the power of the collective, not least psychologically. Both have also looked beyond rugby’s normal tramlines for inspiration. Cheika, born in Sydney to Lebanese immigrants, used to run a successful fashion distribution business, which he says taught him plenty about how to manage and operate under pressure.
And did you know that Bath’s rise has been partly shaped by the best strategic minds in the US army? Van Graan, it emerges, has made multiple visits to the US Military Academy at West Point, just up the Hudson River from New York, to discover how real combatants prepare for battle. “I often think about what I’ve learned there,” he said this week. “We speak a lot about war in training but I go to learn from guys who are actually in a war. I remember this one platoon leader taking us into a little restaurant and giving me live examples of training and battle and how the two differ.”
Van Graan’s attention to detail has also taken him to several NFL teams including the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins. The 45-year-old has also embraced the vision of continual improvement embedded in Japanese Kaizen culture and tapped into the benefits of mind-and-body yoga. At half-time in the dressing room, before a single coaching message is imparted, Bath’s players collectively take a deliberate yoga-style deep breath to help bring them back in sync. “Obviously rugby’s a very emotional game and when you’re in the middle of the battle it can be hard bringing yourself back to a calm state,” says Miles Reid, one of several local Bath boys yearning to bring the league title back to their rugby-centric home city. “Before a message is delivered in our huddles we take a breath. It just gets us all on the same page. It calms us down and then you’re clearer and more receptive.”
Bath’s second-half surge against Bristol Bearsin last Friday’s semi-finalwould suggest it is working. As with his native Springboks, for whom Van Graan worked as an assistant between 2012 and 2017, Bath also possess a “bomb squad” bench who blow most opponents away. Van Graan will also tell you that relaying the infamously muddy pitch at the Rec – ironically after a narrow defeat by Leicester – has been even more vital to Bath’s resurgence, finally suiting the all-court brand of rugby they wanted to play.
The Tigers have not had the luxury of Bruce Craig’s generous financial backing. Having won the title against the oddsin 2022, they trailed in eighth in the table last year and Cheika’s tenure will span only one year. As recently as January they contrived toconcede 80 points to Toulouse, forcing their resident Australian wizard to dig into his box of motivational tricks. He has plenty of them: among his more famous ploys was handing out engraved golf clubs to each member of his Waratahs squad before their Super Rugby final against the Crusaders in 2014. He wanted to encourage them to have a swing and not have any regrets. The Waratahs duly beat a strong Crusaders side 33-32.
The 58-year-old Australian has not yet been spotted in any pro shops this week but, whether it be through tone, body language or symbolic messaging, he will unquestionably have Leicester pumped up for the big one. “He’s obviously unbelievable in terms of the strategic side,” says England’s Ollie Chessum, set to embark on his first Lions tour next week. “You don’t get as far as he has in rugby without having that rugby IQ. But for me he just finds a way to galvanise the group and get them to find a real meaning in what they’re doing. We’ve probably not learned too much technically that we didn’t already know but what’s really changed this year is around that mental and emotional side of the game. Cheik’s incredibly good at finding a way to motivate boys. He’ll also say that just believing you can do it makes a huge difference.”
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Leicester, even so, will require something special to stop a team who are chasing a trophy treble, having already landedthe Challenge Cupand Premiership Cup. Not only do Bath have the baton-twirling Finn Russell but they have impressive power and pace across the field. Even without the injured Ollie Lawrence, Van Graan’s multifaceted squad is finally well placed to reward Craig’s investment.
Then again the white-shirted Tigers will be feeling an emotional surge as they bid farewell to, among others, their retiring legends Ben Youngs and Dan Cole. “It’s sad seeing Coley retire,” says Joe Heyes, his front-row teammate. “Lenny too. They’ve been a huge part of this club. We want to send them off in the right way.” Chessum, increasingly influential for club and country, is another believer. “When we’ve needed it most in the last five, six weeks the squad has really clicked. As Cheik says, we’ve been playing under pressure for quite a few weeks now.”
Or, to quote Cheika himself: “When the opportunity’s there you’d be mad not to take it, wouldn’t you?” But Bath and Van Graan have not come this far to abandon their process now and lose a second consecutivePremiershipfinal. If they can crack the title code it may just be the first of many.