Hello all.

Hope you’ve all had a good Christmas and a very happy new year from me.

It wasn’t the best of ends to the year for me personally regarding the rugby. After I last spoke to you we went up to the Arms Park with big hopes of our first away win but after a tough match where we didn’t take enough of our chances we ended coming home with a very disappointing loss. So it was a tough week in training after that but there was a sense of excitement as we had an opportunity of putting it right against our biggest rivals, the people from across the water as some people say, the Ospreys!

We arrived at the Liberty quietly confident and after a poor first half from us we came back to 17-15 with ten minutes left on the clock with everything to play for, we continued to put the pressure on but with a few questionable decisions by the officials we fell short with 17-15 being the final score.

Now as you can imagine we weren’t a happy camp and something had to be done. We had it all to play for with a return match against the Ospreys but this time it was their turn to come to our patch; our home which has been a fortress in the PRO12 since Boxing Day 2013!

There wasn’t much motivation needed as it was already there for us on a plate and believe me the boys were up for it, no-one more than myself. Anyway we played the game and for you who were able to watch it I think you will agree with me it was a very physical encounter with us coming out with one of our best performances of the season so far.

We came out worthy winners with the scoreline resting at 22-10. The changing rooms were bouncing after and the boys were delighted with the shift they had put in. I wasn’t quite as bouncing the next day when I woke up and could hardly move but it was worth it all the way.

A short turnaround for us this week with a game up in the sunny Glasgow – can’t wait to wear shorts up there it’s so warm! In all seriousness it’s a massive game for us this Friday and a massive task for us to try and get our first away win of the season.

The league is very competitive at the moment and there are no easy games so we’ve got to go up there and try and get a result. I know most of you won’t be coming to Glasgow to watch us but I think it’s on BBC2 on Friday evening if you didn’t want to miss the action!

Anyway, that’s me for another week, I hope you’ve all had a nice break and some lovely times with family and friends and also blown all the hangovers away.

Take care and be safe Rob