'We’ve won nothing yet' - Johann van Graan insists Bath must stay hungry after victory against Sale Sharks

Johann van Graan insists Bath must keep their feet on the ground despite a morale-boosting victory over Sale Sharks in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby.

Bath moved up to second in the table with an impressive 42-24 triumph over Sharks, who fell to defeat against Saracens in last season's Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final.

England winger Joe Cokanasiga crossed the whitewash twice, with Matt Gallagher, Tom Dunn and Ollie Lawrence going over to help Van Graan's side leapfrog defending champions Sarries in the table.

With just five fixtures remaining of the regular season, the Bath boss believes his side must keep improving.

“We’ve won nothing yet,” said Van Graan.

“This Premiership is so tight, and there are nine teams that can qualify for a semi-final.

"We’ve got to keep improving our game. For us it’s a constant theme: to get better.

“This is new territory for this group of players – the fact that we are in the top four and want to stay there.

"Five rounds to go – two at home and three away. Who knows what is going to happen between now and May

"We have also got Europe to deal with."

Manu Tuilagi, who announced he would move to Top 14 side Bayonne last week, touched down for the visitors, with Tom Roebuck and Sam Dugdale also going over.

Bath have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround this season following their eighth-placed finish last term.

Fans can now dream of a home semi-final and their first play-off appearance since 2020, with Van Graan's side sitting two points behind league leaders Northampton Saints and a point ahead of Saracens.

Van Graan believes Bath boast a more versatile attack this season.

“We were very good at scoring tries at close quarters last season but we are now scoring from a lot further out. I think it’s pretty difficult to read us," he added.

“Our set piece is working well. We’ve got the ability to attack, defend and use our kicking game.

“The big moment was Sale losing a line-out. We got a scrum and a penalty from that scrum, then a maul penalty and scored in the corner.

"When we needed our set piece we used it. I thought we defended pretty well too and there were some lovely moments in attack.

“The first half wasn’t perfect but we just trusted our process and spoke about keeping our discipline.

"We conceded the try with that pass just after half-time but for me that’s the growth that is being shown in this group. We scored straight away and then we kept building the score."

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