Bath head coach Johann van Graan says he expects 'conflict' this season over how the workload of his England players is managed after landmark new deal
Bath are anticipating inevitable ‘conflict’ this season over how the work-load of their England players is managed, after the recent announcement of a new club-country deal with the RFU.The terms of the Professional Game Partnership allow national coach Steve Borthwick the final say over when the majority of his squad are available for their clubs, on fitness or medical grounds. It is a significant control shift which Premiership directors of rugby are hurriedly coming to terms with, including Johann van Graan, who is gearing up for another title bid in the West Country. Ollie Lawrence, Sam Underhill and Will Stuart are among the Bath contingent who are likely to be awarded ‘enhanced EPS’ contracts. Van Graan is aware that there will be a time when he wants to pick them for a key league or Champions Cup game, Borthwick decrees that they must be rested and a dispute will have to be resolved.‘The agreement is signed, so that is something I’m going into with good faith,’ said the South African. ‘I would like to think everybody, whether the national team or the clubs, have the players’ best interests at heart. There will be some conflict because of the regulations where certain calls can be made by the relevant people. Johann van Graan says he expects ‘conflict’ this season over how the workload of his players Ollie Lawrence (centre), Sam Underhill and Will Stuart are among the Bath contingent who are likely to be awarded ‘enhanced EPS’ contracts‘From a personal point of view, I have had a fantastic meeting with Steve. All the England coaches were here a few weeks ago. There is alignment as to what the process is. The challenge will come once a call has been made.‘Number one, we have to have a Premiership and number two, we have to have international rugby. It will always be club versus country. I have been on both sides of the fence. You need club and you need country. How well can we work together and when the tension comes, how can we hopefully come to the right decision?’Asked if he is confident that Borthwick and the England hierarchy are respectful of the needs of the elite clubs, Van Graan added: ‘Yes, I do believe so. Steve and I have been rugby friends for a long time. There are 10 DoRs and Steve, and we respect the fact that he is the national coach. We are aligned to the PGP.‘There is now a process should there be a contentious point or we get to a point where there is disagreement. It is important to know who is going to be the person who makes that call (as head of a committee monitoring the management of players).‘Both parties will present the facts and there will be a call made. It is good that it can’t be emotional – there has got to be something factual and somebody has to then make the call. Do I try and live my life thinking that people will make the right decisions for the right reasons? Yes, because, ultimately, it is players who play for the club and the national team.’The PGP was brokered by the RFU, along with Premiership Rugby and the players’ union, the RPA. Their involvement meant a breakthrough as the terms of the deal now cover players of other nationalities operating in English rugby’s top division. Steve Borthwick will have the final say over when the majority of his squad are available for their clubsFor Bath, the up-shot is that they will be expected to rest Scotland fly-half Finn Russell, their master playmaker, at key points of the season. ‘Yes, we got informed about that,’ said Van Graan. ‘The facts are that a player can’t play every game in a competition. I’d like to think we did that (resting players) really well last season. It will come up more now with pretty important club games and some of the stars will be absent. We have to be adaptable.’Bath will launch their new Premiership campaign on Friday night, with a repeat at The Rec of last season’s final, which they ended up losing narrowly against Northampton at Twickenham. The showpiece climax to the domestic season was undermined by a first-half red card for Bath’s England prop Beno Obano, for a marginal high tackle.That incident and others have convinced Van Graan that players should only be sent off – in the full and final, traditional sense – for acts of blatant foul play, rather than misjudgements. ‘I believe there should potentially be a different colour card,’ he said.‘If a player punches a player, I believe it should be a straight red and he should not come back into the game. However, if there's a collision and the player gets it wrong by three centimetres, I do believe we as a game want to see 15 on 15. So, I believe a player - or a different player - should be allowed to come back.‘That's way beyond my decision-making process, but if you ask my view, that’s my view. I understand that we've got World Rugby, we've got all the different nations, and then you get different opinions. So, if I get asked my opinion, that’s my opinion. I do believe there's a difference between deliberate foul play and hitting somebody in the head with a tackle that's unintentional. Beno Obano hit Juarno Augustus’ head with force in the tackle and was shown a straight red‘The red cards in the World Cup final, in the Champions Cup Final and the Premiership Final were not deliberate acts of foul play. It’s a dynamic sport and players do get it wrong. 'Do I believe that under the current laws that Christophe Ridley (referee in the Premiership Final) got the Beno incident right? Yes, he did. He had absolutely no choice. Did Beno have any intention of hurting the other player? Absolutely not.‘The beauty of rugby is big collisions, scrums, mauls, so it’s about having the balance between the two (that and safety). If a player punches another player or stamps on his head or eye-gouges, I believe it should be an automatic red card. 'But where do you currently see that in the game? The game is clean, it’s in a good place. That’s why I believe we should look at how we can mitigate collisions that are unintentional, with players moving at a fast speed.’
