Bath will certainly spend days and weeks ruing what could have been against the Chiefs. They went in at half-time in total control, having scored four tries to Exeter’s one to lead 26-10.
Under Van Graan, Bath have become accustomed to stepping up to the occasion of knockout rugby matches and knowing how to win big games but during the second half, where Exeter changed and adapted, Bath increasingly looked out of ideas.
Exeter replaced their front row early after the break, began dominating the scrum and every bounce of the ball and penalty decision started to go their way.
They scored three tries, the third with Bath down to 14 men and Joe Cokanasiga in the sin-bin, to take a slender lead for the first time in the 67th minute.
Still, in the closing minutes, the defending champions had a shot at snatching victory.
Bath had possession, they forced their way to Exeter’s line and Santiago Carreras – starting at fly-half for the injured Finn Russell – dropped into the pocket directly in front of the posts perfectly placed for a drop-goal, while Cokanasiga also stood in acres of space alone on the right wing.
Instead, Bath carried on through their forward pack.
Through phase after phase, they repeated the same method until the 43rd phase when Vilikesa Sela was held up over the line and the game was over.
“I backed him [Carreras] to kick it but ultimately the ball didn’t get to him,” Van Graan said.
“It’s so easy as a coach to sit here and say ‘oh, we should have done this, we should have done that’. Santi was in the pocket, whatever the reason was, we didn’t pull it.
“We definitely had space on the sides but from my side, ultimately we all win together and we all lose together. We didn’t use the opportunity and we certainly didn’t finish that last opportunity, otherwise it would have been a total different story at the final whistle.”
