1 minute read
ROB baxter
Good afternoon to you all and welcome to Sandy Park for today’s Heineken Champions Cup encounter with Montpellier.
I expect most of our supporters are finding us pretty strange to follow at the moment. On one hand, we can finish second in the Champions Cup pool with a home last 16 place secured; we’ve won all but one home game so far this season, plus we’ve won our first trophy of the season by claiming the Premiership Rugby Cup just a fornight ago.
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When you look at it like that, things seem pretty good. On the other hand, though, we have interspersed that with pretty average away performances in the Gallagher Premiership!
Nobody is more frustrated by this than me and I am not going to pretend that there is an easy answer or that a flick of a switch can address everything in one go. We do have some core fundamentals that drift in and out of the team, hence the inconsistent performances, but that does also mean that they are there and we need to bring them to the fore as much as we can over the remainder of this season.
The exciting thing about this weekend is that we are at home and it’s a Champions Cup game, two things that have brought the best out of us this season and we have to draw on that to allow us to play with confidence and direction. That is how we will challenge Montpellier and when we genuinely challenge sides we can beat anyone.
I am not going to write now talking about last week at Bath because we have dissected this at length in house. For obvious reasons there were some tough words and some tough decisions to be made, but now we have to look forward to the game today and what we can achieve in the Champions Cup.
For us, it is a fantastic opportunity to not just take another step forward in the competition, but to take a step forward as a team, every game is an opportunity to grow and we must grow!!
.Finally I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Montpellier back to Sandy Park. To their coaches, players, officials and supporters, we hope you enjoy your stay with us.
Enjoy the Game!
Rob
