Heyneke Meyer says Johann van Graan’s genius was evident from an early age and on Sunday, the Bath boss gets his biggest test yet in an Investec Champions Cup semi-final in Bordeaux.
Van Graan cut his coaching teeth at the Vodacom Bulls under Meyer, winning three Super Rugby titles, before serving as Springbok forwards coach and then head coach of Munster.
The 46 year-old then transformed a broken Bath club into a treble-winning machine last season, and now stands one win away from a maiden Champions Cup showpiece against Bordeaux Bègles on Sunday.
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Meyer shared with News24 about when he first brought a teenage Van Graan into the Bulls setup: “He was around 16 or 17 and we got him involved with doing our stats.
“From day one I was very impressed with his work ethic. I always knew his knowledge of the game was brilliant.”
Raised in Pretoria and within eyesight of institutions such as Affies, Tuks and Loftus Versfeld, the young Van Graan was immersed and surrounded by the game of rugby.
“He wanted to be a rugby coach from day one,” his father Barend said.
“He never wanted to be anything else; that was his big thing and goal. From primary school, that was the only job he wanted to do.”
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
