Johann van Graan sets his sights on creating a dynasty at Bath Rugby

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Head of rugby Johann van Graan promised 'the best is yet to come' for Bath Rugby after the South African's masterplan delivered the Gallagher Premiership title on Saturday to complete a remarkable treble.

This season, having been beaten in last season's league final, the records history books have been re-written as Bath end a 29-year wait for a Premiership title with a 23-21 triumph over Leicester at Allianz Stadium Twickenham, to add to the the Premiership Rugby Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup already in the club's trophy cabinet.

READ MORE: Bath Rugby player ratings from Gallagher Premiership final win over Leicester - 'Clutch performance'

While the final may arguably have been one of Bath's least impressive performances of the season, van Graan's achievement of taking Bath from the basement club to champions in three years marks him out as one of the leading coaches in the world. And having signed a contract through to 2030, his thoughts are on creating a new golden era for one of the great clubs of English rugby.

"The day you stand still is the day somebody catches you. You must always train like number two because the other guys are coming. We will look at ourselves and go again. As I said from the start, this is a journey, there is no endpoint in this.

"The best is yet to come. The day you stop dreaming is the day that you die in life. We want to become better. I am not going to commit to our targets for next season tonight because this is a whole club effort, the owner, the broad, the team. But I will set the vision for the group. Champion teams are teams that win things multiple times. We have never set dates for winning things, but once you tasting winning, you want to taste it again."

Bath's tries in the final came from Thomas du Toit and Max Ojomoh on what became a brilliant afternoon for Scotland's Finn Russell, who overcame early frustrations to kick 13 points, also teeing up Ojomoh after snatching an interception from inside his own half.

Jack van Poortvliet opened the scoring with a try for Leicester, while second-half tries from Solomone Kata and Emeka Ilione nearly sparked a comeback. Handre Pollard added three Leicester conversions but the World Cup-winning South African fly-half will rue what might have been after a rare penalty miss. Tigers twice had men sent to the sin bin - departing captain Julian Montoya late in the first half, while Dan Cole's swansong concluded unceremoniously with a controversial yellow.

Speaking post-match, Bath club captain Ben Spencer was also highly optimistic about the future for the Blue, Black and White.

He said:. "This has taken a lot of hard work from a lot of people. I feel relieved not just for me, but for the players, the staff, and the fans. The fans are a massive part of why I joined the club.

"I think the future of this club is unbelievably bright, no matter who pulls on the shirt. I can't speak highly enough of the guys coming through. Their work ethic is second to none, and as long as we keep our feet on the floor and wanting to get better, the sky's the limit for this team."

With 22 of Bath's 23-player final squad contracted for next season, and with the likes of Argentina star Santi Carreras, England international Henry Arundell, Exeter hooker Dan Frost and Scotland centre Chris Harris already signed for the 2025/26 campaign, van Graan's squad look to have all the pieces in place to compete for another league title and perhaps have a tilt at the Champions Cup.

But that is easier said than done, with six different Premiership winners over the last six years and French winners of the Champions Cup for the last five years. We might just have found van Graan's narrative for 2025/26.

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