Johann hails the Worcester old boys

JOHANN van Graan paid tribute to the former Worcester Warriors who contributed so much to a last-minute 19-18 victory over Gallagher Premiership champions Leicester Tigers on Friday night.

Ex-Sixways skipper Ted Hill galloped in for a first-half try and there were top-class displays from former Warriors Ollie Lawrence Jamie Shillcock, and Niall Annett.

Van Graan said: “The Worcester lads have fitted in so well and they’ve made a lot of the players and staff realise what this game’s about and how lucky we are to have contracts to play. It was a team performance, but within that, the lads who came here from Worcester made a big difference.

“We spoke about it as a group before they even came to Bath. They’ve shared a few private moments with the group and fair dos to them, there’s never a bad moment about what happened to them. They said, ‘We’re now at Bath, we’re going to fit in and make a difference.’ And they have.”

Van Graan added: “One point is the biggest and also the smallest margin in sport. You lose by a point and it’s extremely hard to take. You win and it’s amazing.

“We’re very happy. We came up against the defending champions, a phenomenal side, and they put us under huge pressure in that first half.

“We started to turn the screw, got a few penalties off the scrum and it was all very satisfying.”