IS WINNING A HABIT? “Given the nature of how we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory over the course of this season I would be inclined to agree. It can be a habit. The shift in focus to a different competition hopefully frees you up and gets the monkey off your back. If you are consistent with your approach at some point the results start to turn your way and it only takes one game to find form. We are very set in our intent that this is a game where we find form. W

Review of Exeter game “The responses were really good off the back of a bad start, 12 points down. We came right back into it. Our set-piece was good, scoring a try from an opposition scrum five metres out, that shows signs of growth. I was really happy with our phase defence. Our set-piece defence caught us out on a few occasions, some of our execution has to be better, scoring more tries from the opportunities we created. We were in inaccurate and sloppy at the start.” Retu

RAFFI QUIRKE’S DEPARTURE “Everyone is still really good friends with Raffi and he has been able to tell the lads his reasons as to why he has made his decisions so no-one has fallen out over what has happened and his decision to go. It is really tough [to lose a player like Quirke] as you put your time and resources into these players. You get the news and it has been weeks in the making for us, and there have been tough conversations but not ones where we have fallen out ove

GEORGE FORD’S NEW CONTRACT “I have been pleased for a while as we have known for a while. He is fundamental and pivotal to this club moving forwards to have him at the helm for everything he is about; the passion, common sense, how concise he is and how he communicates, where he is from, what he wants to do, where he wants to take this group, how driven he is. It is bigger than just how brilliant he is on the field. He is a motivational force for me as a coach, not just the p

RETURNING INTERNATIONALS “All are available to play. Lions players are not.” NEW CLUB CAPTAIN ERNST VAN RHYN “Your captain has to...

WHAT AN ERNST VAN RHYN-CAPTAINED SIDE LOOKS LIKE “It is a very privileged position to be in. Not much is really going to change with me...

THE RUN-IN “They all feel big but the next one is the biggest one. I know it sounds cliché but it is. Any team with aspirations of a home...

LUKE COWAN-DICKIE “He is playing the best rugby of his life, he is like a man possessed. He is settled up north and happy in his private...

MESSAGING FOR THE RUN-IN “Last year we talked about it being some sort of climb, a “Tour de Force” we labelled it, a force of nature and...

CHALLENGE OF TAKING ON TOULOUSE “If this does not excite you then there are few in the calendar that do. They are very good at a lot of...

CONTRACTS Raffi Quirke-  “We heard a while ago there were offers from Exeter, Bath, Harlequins. I went to him as I do everyone and asked...

REFLECTIONS ON VICTORY OVER RACING “I said after the Glasgow game I didn’t think we were far off, small percentages in most areas which...

REFLECTIONS ON WIN OVER LEICESTER “Around 20 minutes in after we scored the first try we got some fixes by way of breakdown policy. We...

TOM CURRY “We were kept in the loop, constant communication around where his head was at in terms of the return to play and 12-day...

FUTURE OF THE DU PREEZ TWINS “We are trying to be on the front foot with all negotiations. If I read something in the paper and if the...

REFLECTIONS ON WIN OVER NEWCASTLE “Lots of good stuff and some which will not be good enough against the two teams we play in the next...

PLAYERS STEPPING UP AGAINST GLOUCESTER WITH LOTS OF PLAYERS OUT “They mentioned it in the week that most people, particularly Gloucester,...

GEORGE FORD “He went for a scan on Monday night and set to get results Tuesday night. He has pulled a muscle in his quad. “He is...

TOM CURRY “He is currently undergoing his return-to-play from an HIA (concussion incident that happened during the first half of the...

RAFFI QUIRKE “He is on the mend. He has had a successful operation on his scaphoid (a bone in the wrist), the same hand he broke a couple...