Bath: Johann van Graan sees progress despite lowly league position
- Published
Jonathan Joseph (left) scored one of Bath's three tries in the 30-27 loss to Sale on Friday
Bath head coach Johann van Graan is sure his team is making progress despite being 10th in the Premiership.
They were seconds away from pulling off a sensational victory at Sale Sharks on Friday only to concede a last-minute try to Arron Reed in a 30-27 loss.
But in almost winning from 22-3 down, Van Graan sees better times ahead.
"The one agreement I made with the group was that we were going to become tough to beat. We are fighting and that's all I'm looking for," he said.
Bath finished bottom of the Premiership last season and Van Graan is trying to implement a change in culture.
They have lost eight of their 12 league games, but six of those have been by margins of less than seven points and they are conceding an average of nearly seven points less per game. Their try tally has also risen from an average 2.3 to 2.75 tries per match.
"When I started on 11 July, it was a massive task from where Bath were last season," said Van Graan.
"You don't just turn a ship around like that in six months. If you look at our season, that is the sixth game we have lost within one score.
"We're not going to be perfect in the first season. We're in these games but we have to finish them."
Bath picked up a losing bonus-point at the AJ Bell Stadium and with eight games remaining, they are only seven points behind Harlequins, who are sitting in third.
"That is the beauty of the Premiership at the moment, all the teams are in a similar position," the South African added.
"This competition is definitely not over for us for this season.
"We are taking it step by step, week by week, and if we can improve this season, we'll regroup and then take that into the next one, but there's a lot of rugby left."