Director of Coaching Scott Johnson says that he is pleased with the way that Pool 3 is shaping up after two games, following today's nail biting win over Clermont Auvergne at the Liberty Stadium.
Speaking to the media post-match, he commented:
“I think I’m aging since I came here, they certainly now how to age their coach! We are happy with the scoreboard and we are happy with where we are in the group after two games. It’s probably a nice position to be in when you have so much to work on, if we can get our part right, maybe we can give this a real shot.
“We’ll take the positives out of it. We’ll acknowledge that the game was there to be won by a lot more, you have to give them credit for the way they played after the break, but we’ll hold our hands up. You can’t concede that many penalties and put yourself under so much pressure. Like I said, we’ll see the positives but acknowledge that there’s a fair bit of work to do.
“Coming off the so called criticisms of last week, it was easy for the boys to go into their shell and not try and play, so it was nice to see a positive attitude at the start of the game, I’m really happy with that. We’ve just got to learn that when we turn around and come out after half time that the game’s not really closed. It was disappointing but it was a good result that keeps us in the group.
“We didn’t get much of the ball after the break, but there were positives, our lineout went well, we still tried to play the footy which can be difficult when you’re under pressure trying to force things. I’m a little disappointed in some aspects of our games but I admired the intent when we actually had the ball, we didn’t try to do anything silly.
“We want to play footy and we want to be aggressive with the ball in our hand, but the reality is, in the second half we couldn’t get the thing. It makes it hard when you’re chasing rainbows. We let ourselves down in some areas of the game, but we have to be honest with that. We know where we are, but it’s nice to walk away feeling reasonably pleased with where we are situated in terms of the way that the pool is shaping up.”