Alex’s thoughts on the Bristol game:
Our ability to stick in it and stay in the fight was awesome, potentially in the past we wouldn’t have been able to see out that game. We grew throughout the match, which was good to see, the belief from the boys never wavered which is what we have been working on.
looking ahead to the Bath game:
We’ve looked at a few games and we can see what teams have done to Bath recently and how they have beat them, but we aren’t expecting a poor team to come up to the AJ Bell, quite the opposite actually. The moment you start overlooking things and being overconfident is the moment you start getting beaten badly and embarrassed, so we won’t be taking Bath lightly this weekend. We have been using last year’s match, where they physically dominated us as a reminder that for every example of Bath being underpowered recently, there is another match which shows their complete dominance and control. That’s the challenge we want this weekend and that’s what I think Bath will bring.
On the threats Ben Spencer offers:
Ben is a very dangerous player, he’s dangerous of the foot, dangerous with the ball in hand and you really have to be sharp around the rucks when Ben is playing. He’s going really well for Bath and I have to say I’m really happy for him, it was a great choice that seems to have paid off.
On Marland Yarde’s recent form:
I think Marland’s injury was a huge turning point for him. He doesn’t shout about it but he has changed a lot of things since then, mainly in his general outlook and approach to life. He’s done a lot of charity work recently and has been one of, if not the best example to some of our younger lads, who maybe could have gone down the same path he went down which lead to him not having the best reputation in the early stages of his career. He’s a different person these days for me, I have sat with him at length recently and how he is talking, how he is training and how he is living his life out of the game is an unbelievable example of how you live your life and play your rugby are interlinked.
On the transition from Head Coach to Director of Rugby:
It’s gone well in terms of the outcomes and the performances and the feel and buzz that’s around the place is infectious, but let’s be honest, two to three weeks isn’t enough to see if it’s going well. Two months is probably the earliest and two years is about right to judge, hopefully 10 years will be the acid test. I want to build something lasting and that’s not done in two weeks. In terms of the transition, I do a lot of similar things. I’m essentially doing the same job, just bringing a team of different people together, and those people are what has made my transition so easy.
