HOW IMPORTANT IS THE CHALLENGE CUP?
“We are in it to win it, that is for certain. I think it is important that we try and maintain some momentum on the back of last week. We have to rest George (Ford) and there is some tactical rotation that is going in place but we believe we have a strong enough team to compete and give ourselves a shot at going through. There are some more difficult decisions we have had to make as a coaching group to understand how we can keep form, maintain momentum whilst looking after players and not putting ourselves in a position we found ourselves in at Christmas.”
THE IMPACT OF BEN CURRY ON HIS RETURN FROM INJURY
“The worry that we had, and it was unfounded obviously, from that long a time off with the way he plays chucking him straight back in could risk injury again, would we get the same form out of him given everyone else had game-time. I think he surprised us all by how good he was. He was gassed when he came off but that’s him knackered, not game-fit. Where is he going to be in two weeks? He is another in consideration (for resting) because he so few minutes. It’s weighing up the guys who will be efficient, fit and fresh and able to keep going as opposed to those who need some time to re-stock and re-boost as we look to go through both competitions as we are looking to go through in both.
“The physicality, intensity and resolve in defence was something we felt was missing. Ben led the charges on Sunday. Allied to that you get the likes of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Cobus Wiese, Jean-Luc du Preez, all of whom have now found form. I said last week keep the faith and we are going to find form and a lot of it is just time in the saddle. Playing together you get cohesion together. It happened last year around this time when we had three or four defeats on the bounce and then it just started to click. At the weekend it clicked. The challenge now is to maintain that momentum. Too many changes will inevitably require more time in the saddle so it is a tricky process of rotation and trust in the players.”
PERFORMANCE LONG TIME COMING AGAINST EXETER LAST WEEKEND
“There is definitely that intangible feeling. The players had their meeting at the start of the week. They brought themselves in and talked about the things they could fix but also set the intent for the week ahead. There was a no nonsense, no excuse-type mentality that ran through all the communications in the week. We executed really well in training and when you get all of that together, after training I said to the players if we play like that we will win and we did. It’s nice to know I have still got a feel for what a good prep week is like. Coming into this week it is difficult to replicate that because there were different things that spiked us last week on the back of Bath; last-chance saloon, do-or-die. You come into this week and it’s not over-celebrating what could have been 60 points against Exeter if I am honest if we had executed everything. We were looking more at the opportunities we missed. On the other side of that defensively we have been broken down too easily against Bath, conceding too many points. So the Exeter game was the standard, that’s what we expect. It was a relatively muted review, which I am happy about as we still have our feet on the ground but the acid test will be on Saturday.”
FEELINGS AFTER WIN AGAINST EXETER AND GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND
“I was satisfied (with last weekend). Not over the moon because we worked for it. I am interested to see how some of the lads are going to come in and maintain momentum. I am interested to see how they have kicked on from Christmas, those who are coming in. I said to them the honeymoon period is over for them, it’s not just about getting the opportunity, it’s about the opportunity to perform now at the standards that we have set. I am intrigued to see how they go. Part of me is apprehensive, nervous but those are the feelings you get before stepping into the unknown, not for me but for the boys because it is different down there (in Bridgend). It’s a bit of a cauldron. Going from nice stadia, big changing rooms and good surfaces to something that will be quite inhospitable, partisan, dogged, proper battle. I am conscious they need to be aware of that. I am rejuvenated that we have made a bit of a turn. Aside from winning cups the best thing is to take a group through, finding more about yourself because you have to when you are staring down the barrel of seven straight defeats, and seeing what you are about. I am pumped that I feel like we have made that turn. We have proven that we can and we have the ability within the group that we knew we had but we have proven it. There are mixed feelings in there.”
ANY CHANGES WITH TOM ROEBUCK SINCE HIS RETURN FROM ENGLAND CAMP?
“His ability, work-rate to look for the ball in attack to be an option off first and second receiver in-phase 30, 40 metres off his wing. Trying to get more involvements which is what we wanted because he is a big, strong boy when he gets his hands on the ball. That’s where he got two of his tries against Exeter. They weren’t planned moves, there were just him searching which is where you want your wingers.
“Through his talent yes I am (surprised he didn’t play for England during the Six Nations). At that level it comes down to subjectivity, it is not just who is the better player because they are all different and on their day they are as good as each other. Given the rotation they went through at centre, fullback and nine to get that cohesion if I were Steve (Borthwick) I would have done the same thing, kept the two guys who were performing to keep some continuity in that backline. I understand what he did. I would have had Tom in from the start but I am biased.”
LUKE COWAN-DICKIE’S NEW CONTRACT
“I would be really happy to sign Dickie up for a couple of years. We have got a better relationship. There is more from him to come, we saw that on Sunday. That was him at his best with some game-time under his belt. He is one of many English players whose salary is constricted by the cap and if he is getting into the England squad, which I think he can do, then that takes a large responsibility of his salary away from us as he would get an extra £150k a year. If he wasn’t getting England recognition then at this stage of his career he would look to where he is more financially rewarded. It gives him that extra year to see where he is at in terms of England recognition and figure out what is best for him. In that time we have got a very good player and great bloke on board.”
THE CURRYS CONTRACT STATUS
“We have got them next year and then they are up for renewal after that. We are talking to them at length. There is no indication they want to go. Tom is around the marquee player bracket I would say and Ben is as good as him, he just hasn’t quite had the same recognition outside the club. Those two salaries are generally driven by market value as well. We would look and hope to keep them both and that is part of the multi-faceted jigsaw puzzle that is the salary cap.
“Their agents aren’t stupid and I have to separate the person from the player from the business because it is business when it comes down to numbers. With Tom why would they negotiate at this point if you were his agent when he has not been able to be back in the limelight and show how good he is post his operation, which is going really well. Ben is in quite a strong position and we are a little bit further down the road in terms of negotiating with Ben. We have been for the last six months. He wants the right deal for him financially. It has got to work on all fronts for any player because their careers are relatively short and could be over in a week or one game. I have started to take a more relaxed approach to these kinds of negotiations. It is better for my mental health.”
INJURY UPDATE
Ernst van Rhyn- Grade 2 ankle injury, four to six weeks
Sam Bedlow- might be the season for him, snapped a tendon in his wrist that had to be re-attached
OTHER NEWS
Manu Tuilagi doesn’t need a rest but with a danger of re-injury to players like him he will be one of those to consider resting this weekend
Ospreys are a ‘sticky team’, which is a compliment. When they have lost it has been by a small margin. It will be a tough game and they will be up for it as it will mean a lot to them
Players’ agreement still not done yet, training days and schedule still to be ironed out
No bad teams left in the Challenge Cup, Europe is different as you have to use different methodology, adaptability is important as you come up against teams you don’t play often
This weekend will be different in terms of a relentless intensity, the breakdown being ferociously fought