Good player management is one of the hallmarks of Johann van Graan’s reign as Bath’s Head of Rugby, and he makes no apologies for wrapping star prop Thomas du Toit up in cotton wool at key points of the season.
With his phenomenal try-scoring record (22 in 56 games) and the ability to pack down on both sides of the scrum, du Toit has been a key component in Bath’s transformation from no-hopers to treble winners.
Arguably, the 25-times capped Springbok has been as impactful as Finn Russell, another of Bath’s high-profile signings, in helping the club get back on track and secure its first English league title in 29 years, along with the Challenge Cup and Premiership Cup.
Coaches in the past have run their marquee players into the ground to squeeze every last drop out of them. But van Graan is acutely aware of the need to manage players through a lengthy season, and has rotated his squad heavily at times, sticking true to his principles even in the face of fierce criticism. And his players have repaid him for his duty of care with a bundle of silverware.
For the internationals in the Bath squad, such attention to detail and understanding of their needs, from both a physical and mental wellbeing perspective, is priceless, none more so than those working at the coalface, such as du Toit.
In the latest episode of The Big Jim Show, van Graan spoke glowingly about du Toit and what he has done to protect one of his prime assets from burnout.
“Sometimes people claim that rugby has gone soft or we must go back to the olden days. I would say that rugby is the most physical that it has ever been,” van Graan told the podcast’s host, ex-Scotland international Jim Hamilton.
“The players are the fittest they have ever been, there is a massive focus on mental well-being, there is a massive focus on on-field and off-field performance: how you eat, how you sleep, how you recover, how do you plan your week to make sure that you don’t over train, to make sure you don’t get soft tissue injuries and when you get trauma injuries how quickly can you get a player back.
“Your biggest asset is your players, and you have got to look after them.
“Do I personally believe there is too much rugby? Yes. But that is not something that I can control.
“What I can control is looking after the players we have at Bath, the best that we can, and that’s why squad planning is so important. That’s why you don’t just need one hooker or one nine or one ten, you need multiple nines, you need multiple tens, multiple players who can play in different positions.
“Sometimes your eyes will tell you that this player needs a break. The very best want to play every single week, and communication has been a big thing for us, in terms of clarity in planning breaks.
“I am going to give a simplistic example. Thomas du Toit is somebody who plays cross-hemisphere, which is not perfect, but he has been magnificent for Bath. In my view, he is one of the best props in world rugby, but we have to look after his body.
“One of the things we did out of the ordinary this season is that we gave him the whole of February off. I told him the previous November that we were going to do that, so he knew he had five weeks off in February, where he could go wherever he liked in the world.
“He came back and played in the quarter-final vs Quins in the Prem Cup, we didn’t play him in the semi-final vs Newcastle in the Prem Cup, and then he played his second game in the Prem Cup final vs Exeter, only playing 40 minutes two times, and then he is in the back end of the season.
“Now he is in South Africa and we wish him the very best for the Test matches in The Rugby Championship.”
Buying players of the calibre of du Toit and Russell has led to snipes about salary cap over-spending, but van Graan points out that money isn’t the only motivating factor when a player decides to move.
“I believe players will go to the clubs that look after them, look after them long-term. That’s because the longer a player can play, the better for them not only financially, but also it gives them time to plan the rest of their lives.”
