Bath v Lyon: Latest from European Rugby Challenge Cup final
Bath come into tonight's match having beaten Leicester 43-15 in the Premiership last weekend and sit 15 points clear at the top of the English top flight. Van Graan wants to see his side continue to strive to improve.
'What life teaches me is if you stand still somebody else is moving forward so we have got to keep moving forward. We want to get better, we have improved in every single area so we are not about to stop now. We will keep trying, keep finding a better way. One of our sayings is our process needs to lead to performance. If it does not lead to performance then let's find a better way to do it. You have got to back yourself that we will become better together, you go through experiences as a group so this is another experience for us.'
Lyon, who have struggled in the Top 14 sitting down in 11 th, beat Sharks, Ospreys and Racing 92 to reach the final. They won the Challenge Cup back in 2022, when they beat Toulon 30-12 down in Marseille. They have though lost their two Top 14 games since booking their place in tonight's final. Van Graan is aware of the challenge posed by Lyon this evening.
'We respect French rugby - many of the world's best players play over there. We respect Lyon for who they are. They won this competition a few years ago, they have got some fantastic individuals and I am sure tomorrow night [tonight] will be a big test. They are a really good side, they are well coached. They have got a good scrum, line-out, ball-carriers and they are a good counter-attacking side',
Kick-off from the Principality Stadium is at 8pm.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Christine Lampard shows off her washboard abs in black bandeau bikini as she soaks up the sun with husband Frank during South of France holiday
Christine Lampard wowed in black bandeau bikini as she soaked up the sun with her husband Frank during their South of France holiday on Monday. The couple, both 46, are currently enjoying some time away from work as they unwind together with friends. And the Loose Women presenter flaunted her incredible physique as she showcased her washboard abs in the tiny two piece. Meanwhile Frank went shirtless as he opted for a pair of blue striped swimming shorts and shades. The former footballer enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pool with a group of male friends, laughing and chatting as they cooled off next to the Mediterranean waters. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The couple, both 46, are currently enjoying some time away from work as they unwind together with friends He then later returned to the couple's balcony where he joined Christine for a spot of sunbathing as they were seen chatting together. Earlier this week Christine was seen looking summer chic as she fit right in at the swanky resort and showed off her sophisticated sense of style in a pair of white linen trousers and strappy top. She later changed into a navy jumpsuit and stylish shades as she looked out at her muscular spouse who was enjoying a cooling swim in the sea. The manager of Coventry City showed off his tanned and toned physique in a pair of bright orange swim shorts as he enjoyed his time off after the football season. Their fun-filled holiday comes after last month Christine revealed the reason her husband Frank often used to cancel their dates at the start of their romance. The loved-up pair have been together since October 2009 and got married in 2015. They are approaching their 10th wedding anniversary this year and Christine has now opened up about their early dating days where things weren't all plain sailing. When they met he was busy playing for Chelsea but used to cancel dates with her when the team didn't win. Frank covered up in a black T-shirt as Christine was seen beaming in pics He told the Mirror : 'What keeps me and Christine going is we're there to support each other and we make each other laugh. We have a similar sense of humour' She told The Sun: 'When he was playing, he used to cancel nights out when Chelsea didn't win. Thankfully, it didn't happen that often, as luckily, Chelsea won a lot!' 'It was actually alright. He would be annoyed just because he takes it all so seriously!' She added that football was a whole new world for her and didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Christine explained: 'I went to an all-girls' school, I didn't have brothers. Football just wasn't a thing. I couldn't have cared less. And then, suddenly, I started to care. 'The more I went to the games, the more I got it. I thought, 'Oh my god, I see why people are into this. There is something magical about it'.' It came after Frank revealed the secret to his happy marriage with his beloved wife Christine. He told the Mirror: 'What keeps me and Christine going is we're there to support each other and we make each other laugh. We have a similar sense of humour. 'Christine's quite sharp and we're normally thinking the same thing, so the same situations make us laugh - I think laughing together is important for a happy marriage.' Frank was introduced to his wife at The Pride Of Britain Awards by fellow TV presenter Piers Morgan in 2009. Christine previously admitted she and the footballer were not even meant to be at the awards ceremony the night they met. Speaking on Lorraine, she said: 'It's a strange one it is because 10 years ago that we met at them, it was one of those nights that neither of us were meant to go to. 'It was a last minute thing for him and I arrived at the awards late because of work. We were sat on tables next to each other.' The couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter called Patricia - named after his late mother who tragically passed away in 2008 - in September 2018. Frank also has daughters Luna, 19, and Isla, 17, with his former partner Elen Rivas, but they went their separate ways in 2008. Christine previously told how she thinks the secret to her marriage with Frank is that they are still each other's best friend. She said: 'We're still absolute best mates. He'll be the first person I'll pick the phone up to sort anything out with. And the biggest thing for me going back to my love of comedy, is he makes me laugh. 'And that is such a powerful thing to me - I have to be able to have a giggle… We just have proper laughs. We have the same points of view on things. 'We don't argue over parenting or how things run in the house. We sort of sing off the same page and that sort of makes everything flow… 'The basis is, there's love, we've got each other's backs and we're supportive. And if he suggests that some job is happening and he wants to do it, we'll make it work.'
Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
The titans who shaped Test cricket
Cricket histories are a dangerous genre both for writers and readers. They can be incredibly boring, the dullest of all probably being John Major's weighty tome, which said everything you knew it would say as drearily as you feared. So Tim Wigmore, a young shaver who writes on cricket for the Daily Telegraph, has entered hazardous territory. Speaking as a proud cricket badger, who even has a book by Merv Hughes on his shelf (Dear Merv, 2001), I will admit that I have read rather too many cricket histories, and I swore that it would be a cold day in hell (or possibly at the county ground in Derby) before I would willingly start another. But Wigmore has written a splendid, comprehensive book full of good stories and droll asides. It dips a little in the middle when Shoaib Mohammad starts batting, and keeps on batting, but what book of 578 pages does not? (Shoaib, who retired in 1995, is still batting in his dreams and my nightmares, and has just played an immaculate forward defensive down to silly mid-off.) In fact Test Cricket is as sparkling and entertaining as any book this long has a right to be. Wigmore has taken as his subject the pinnacle of the game, possibly the pinnacle of any game in the world, the Test match – played over (once) three and (now) five days between no more than a dozen nations (or collections of nations) whose first-class structures justify their hallowed status. So there are no Test matches between Brazil and Argentina – nor are there likely to be until there are first-class stadiums in both countries where regional teams play two-innings matches in whites, with lunch at 1 p.m. and tea at 3.40 p.m. Pork pies would need to be sold locally and everyone would run indoors at the merest sniff of rain or bad light. No, this book starts off with the old rivalry between England and Australia in the 1870s; adds South Africa a quarter of a century later; and then the West Indies and New Zealand on the same day in the 1930s. England fielded two separate XIs against these two teams for their first Tests – an experiment they have never been strong enough to repeat. (Australia often put out two teams in one-day internationals in the 1980s and 1990s, both of which would then beat England, which wasn't that hard at the time.) Wigmore supplies a clean and focused narrative structure. 'Within the space constraints,' he writes, 'I have been led by a sense of Test cricket's overarching story, paying particular attention to players who helped shape the game.' This means a lot of pages are devoted to people such as Abdul Kardar and Tiger Pataudi, while 'titans in less successful or declining sides', like Graham Gooch and Shivarine Chanderpaul, get far fewer. I have no trouble with any of this, although the lack of mention of my own favourite cricketer, Derek Randall, who scored an epic 174 in the centenary Test match in 1977, is obviously shameful. Wigmore has an eye for the telling detail. In a passage on the Australian batsman Victor Trumper, inspired by the photograph of him leaping out of his crease to drill a half-volley back over the bowler's head, we hear that in 1902 Trumper became the first batsman to score a century before lunch on the first morning of a Test match. This was something only five batsmen from any country have done since. I also didn't know that Trumper was the first man to popularise wearing the same national cap at every Test. 'The lore of the baggy green cap, then, is also the lore of Trumper.' Between 1895 and 1904, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji scored 21,576 first-class runs at an average of 60.94. Then he became the Maharajah Jam Sahib of Nawanagar and had to stop batting for Sussex and England. In 1929, Ranji's nephew Duleepsinhji took part in one Test against South Africa, the only occasion in that country's first 172 Tests, until their readmittance to Test cricket in 1992, that they played against someone who didn't have white skin. South Africa, and their supporters in the MCC, don't come out too well from this book. When an Australian Services XI played the first of five matches against an England XI at Lord's in 1945 tickets cost a flat one shilling (five new pence) anywhere in the ground. That's as opposed to the £160 a friend of mine paid recently for one of this summer's Tests. At less than a fifth of the cost, this book represents a serious bargain. It's not quite as good as seeing Joe Root score 100 in the flesh, but it's not far off.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Why Chelsea star is NOT in the Blues' Club World Cup squad after five players worth £225m were left out of travelling party by Enzo Maresca
Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic asked to be left out of their squad for the Club World Cup squad so that he can seek a move away. The goalkeeper's absence is a particular surprise given Chelsea's goalkeeping situation and his impressive performances on loan at Strasbourg. The 25-year old Serbia international, though, is keen for greater starting opportunities and has attracted interest from Monaco. Andrey Santos, who was also on loan at Strasbourg, as well as new signings, Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, and Mamadou Sarr, have been included. Petrovic, though, will be absent, with Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix, Wesley Fofana, and Axel Disasi - worth £225million between them - also not making the cut. It means that, for now, Robert Sanchez will likely be Chelsea's starting goalkeeper, with Filip Jorgensen in reserve. The Blues had hoped to sign AC Milan stopper Mike Maignan before the launch of the competition, but that move fell through. They had stepped up their interest in the Frenchman in recent days and hoped to complete a deal before the transfer window closed ahead of the Club World Cup. But Enzo Maresca's side were unwilling to pay Milan's asking fee, which they believe was inflated due to their will to sign him in time for the competition. It is understood that Milan wanted around £20m for Maignan, who has one year remaining on his contract at San Siro. The Blues are due to face Los Angeles FC in their first group game in Atlanta this Monday and the travelling squad has been decided. As per the rules of the Club World Cup, Chelsea will be able to add new players to their squad between June 27 to July 3 for the knockout stages of the tournament. Petrovic played 31 times for Strasbourg last season, conceding 38 goals in all competitions.
