As well as being a semi-final, Friday night’s match had the added spice of being a derby and the extra feeling of expectation was palpable in the atmosphere from both fans and the players on the pitch.
Bristol came into the match with the superior head-to-head record – having won five of their previous six Premiership meetings with Bath – and Van Graan said the commentary during the days before had helped give his side “motivation”.
Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam had spoken about the money Bath had spent, external compared to the Bears on players, and also about the Recreation Ground ticket prices and lack of roof, external.
“I thought the people of Bath were amazing tonight,” added Van Graan.
“I think I reconfirmed a very valuable lesson in my life this week, two ears and one mouth – don’t speak too much and do your talking on the pitch, and our team certainly did our talking on the pitch. And they did it for the city.
“We certainly got a lot of motivation from Bristol and it’s amazing the more people give the more we got.”
