Bath take 'pride' out of narrow final defeat

Bath caput of rugby Johann van Graan summed up a emotion of pridefulness wrong his squad aft a dogged 14-man capacity successful a constrictive conclusion by Northampton successful nan Premiership final.

Saints were 25-21 winners successful a thrilling, tense lucifer astatine Twickenham, pinch England scrum-half Alex Mitchell scoring nan decisive effort 7 minutes from full-time.

Bath, who had a chance to people pinch nan last play of nan game, had travel from down to return a 21-18 lead contempt playing 60 minutes pinch a numerical disadvantage aft prop Beno Obano was shown a reddish card.

"I can't beryllium prouder of this group," said Van Graan.

"From a belief constituent of view, everybody astatine nan nine stuck successful it until nan past play of nan crippled and we arsenic a group person sewage zero regrets."

South African Van Graan has taken Bath from a squad that vanished bottommost of nan convention array to a Premiership last successful 2 years.

The 44-year-old said he was not going to speak astir nan early yet though Bath - who clasp nan bulk of their squad nether statement having extended deals pinch a number of cardinal players - will surely commencement nan 2024-25 run among title favourites.

"There's a belief successful what we do, successful nan past 23 months we've intelligibly go a group that cognize what we're about," said Van Graan.

Bath skipper Ben Spencer called nan capacity "heroic" while speaking to his team-mates pursuing nan last whistle.

The number 9 - who won 4 Premiership titles pinch Saracens - said that nan squad showed their characteristic to bounce backmost from nan reddish paper and spell connected to beryllium nan amended broadside for overmuch of nan 2nd half.

"I deliberation we showed what benignant of squad we are. A team's that's reliable to beat, a squad that's difficult to play against and a squad that loves a challenge," said Spencer.

Bath had to make a number of tactical changes aft Obano's reddish card, pinch number 8 Alfie Barbeary nan first to beryllium taken disconnected for a front-row replacement.

He said nan squad would usage nan acquisition arsenic information to return and spell 1 amended adjacent season.

"We tin beryllium proud of nan travel we've been connected this season. We've been a hellhole of a team, different time we'd person taken that," Barbeary told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We're each sticking astir for nan adjacent fewer years and hopefully we'll do it again and again.

"We don't want it to extremity truthful let's conscionable build and spell from there."