There were 17 disappointed looking faces in the dressing rooms after the Harlequins match last weekend.

The 17 lads that took to the field gave 100% and the conditions they had to play in were awful! and i think that the conditions suited Harlequins rather then us! The errors that were made killed us and early in the tackle count doesn't help matters. Some of the guys who have been our star men this season seemed to have had a bad day at the office and they were the first people to put there hand up to say so. You could say it was a backward step after we have been improving each week but we can't look at it like that. We had a bad day at the office and to think we was going to play this season without a dip in form would of been unrealistic. This competition is tough and 1% off will see you get beaten unless the other team doesn't turn up! Harlequins had been 3 games without a win so it was obvious they were coming here to win and they just ground out a win, and that win come from an interception try.

If we look at the positives to the game then we created lots of opportunity's and made good yards to get out of our own half. Also everyone looked to be working hard for each other in defence and the lads never give up and played to the final whistle. Although all that doesn't get us the 2 points we can take that into the next game to give us some confidence.

The one thing we can't do is beat ourselves up cause we lost, I feel we need to forgot that game and look to beating Wakefield. Again they will be looking to grind us down and take any sort of win. They wont be looking to be silky with flare, they will be preparing to win at all costs. There forwards will be trying to grind us down and they will be looking to get to the kick as often as possible. I feel we need to be prepare for a arm wrestle and another tough contest.

We again have a few injuries with Lee Briers and Martin Gleeson the latest to join the injury list, its a big loss but all the boys are confident and there is a good team spirit within the team. I think we will get back to winning ways this week, all the boys are refreshed and ready to go.

After the Easter period it was decided that after the Harlequins game the team would get 3 days off. The idea of giving the players downtime is not just to rest up injuries and to recover, its also a mental thing. Although resting the body gives bumps and bruises time to heal it also refreshes the mind. There is a big psychology behind rugby and many sports now, and what players are thinking and what emotions they have is an important part into how they perform. The lads had sometime to spend time with family or to have a trip away just to refresh and recharge the batteries. Paul Stridgeon our conditioner said it was a regular thing with Wasps and he feels it helped them because a break away from what you do 24/7 can be a good thing and i would agree. Coming off the back of a lose to Harlequins didn't really make the lads feel like we deserved some down time but in a way its was good to go away, think about the lose away from our usual environment and come back ready to work hard. Hopefully we'll have a good win this weekend and the weather will pick up, fingers crossed.

Speak soon, Woody.