The Wanderers are doing the business as well with a fine 53 – 0 win on Monday night against Leeds, this puts us on top of the A league. There were some fine performances and one to two players must now be pushing for a place in the first team. Again, a crowd of just under 2,000 made the evening very satisfying.

Now, a very big welcome to all of our visitors from Viadana. I know very little about their club but I am looking forward to today’s game and better still, the return in January in Italy. The club have had some fantastic away trips to Europe in recent years and two away games to Italy and Narbonne in France give us all a major opportunity to do a bit of bonding and enjoy ourselves. That is not forgetting a trip to Bristol next week when I hope a lot of our supporters will be there to shout the team to victory.

Remember our prime task this year is to qualify for the Heineken Cup next year. We have three opportunities. Finish in the top four of the Guinness Premiership, win the Powergen Cup or win the European Challenge Cup competition which starts today. All three opportunities are possible.

Injuries are causing us problems at the moment. Obviously rugby is a physical game and some injuries are part of the course. We already have two or three players who may not play again this season. Another one was added to the list on Saturday when Selborne Boome was carried off.  Selborne has had an operation but this could potentially be a very serious injury at a time when he was on top of his form. We all wish him well.

You all know about the continuing negotiations between the clubs and the RFU. As clubs, we all feel passionately about the issue and wanted to use a co-ordinated approach to reiterate a couple of points and show our solidarity. Firstly, let me say all clubs recognise the value of a strong and successful England team. However, we believe that the club game is vital in the creation of the next generation of England players. International players emerge from the pressure cooker atmosphere of the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP and Europe. Yet the RFU seem to place a higher value on A team games and the Churchill Cup. We cannot accept that a player is better off playing in these games, than say Saints v Leicester. The players love their clubs and show loyalty, they know clubs look after them through thick and thin, the RFU relationship with players is much more fickle. I have already covered the points before and I don’t want to be boring but we must protect ourselves, our supporters and sponsors and make sure we continue to bring forward role models for all of our local schools and junior clubs. This model seems to work, after all, English clubs have won five European titles in the last 10 years and England have won the World Cup. Let us not weaken the club game that provides the foundations for success.

Talking about the excitement of club games, don’t forget to purchase your tickets for our next home game – Wasps on November 12. We have a score to settle with them and rather than write about it, I’d rather our players made the point. Don’t miss this one. Keep smiling.