If Wasps had come here (Bristol), put 50 points on us and we had to face Saracens the following week, with the best will in the world, you would have been asking a few questions of yourself and having a few doubts. |
It wasn't a good performance from us, but we were beaten fair and square by a better side. Gloucester looked very sharp. |
It's not going to happen many times in a season, to go in with an unchanged 22, |
Just one change in the backs with Brian Lima coming in, |
Lee (Robinson) has gone back to the United and done very well, |
Mark and Gareth are key men in our lineout, which is a concern, but we've worked hard this week to overcome that. |
My hopes for Newcastle are the same as they were before Bath, |
Not only the county, but the state of South Carolina has lost a great man. I always called him Grady instead of Dad. People always got a kick out of that. |
Ross hasn't played since April, so by the time he plays again he will have spent the best part of a year out of rugby. |
Sam Cox has had a great season and been unlucky to miss out because he was probably our best centre in pre-season, |
Teams had started to work him out, packing the outside when he had the ball, so we played him at Gloucester last week after naming Brian Lima and we announced Lima would play in this game. It messed up defensive plans. |
That was more like what we were expecting to face in the Premiership, |
That was the first priority - to get possession. The insights these guys bring to each week's game preparation is invaluable. Gareth has got stuck into being a club man. He lives across the Severn Bridge in Cardiff with a young family and yet has become part of the fabric of the club. Bristol sucks you in like that. |
The difference between Division One and the Premiership is that you have to concentrate on your opponents more, |
The pace of both the recovery in the semiconductor equipment industry and the crossover to 300-millimeter tool sets required us to restructure the company in the third quarter. |