Although we won with a very decisive score line Brive showed plenty of skill and determination. We would only put ourselves under pressure if we were to go into the game with the wrong attitude. As I said last week it is only half-time and we have to ensure that we finish the job in Brive on Sunday.

On Tuesday evening we were extremely disappointed to go down to the Natal Sharks by two points. Having been blown away in the first twenty minutes we got back into the game and took the lead with just a few minutes to go. It has to be said that there were a number of crucial officiating decisions that went against us, notwithstanding Rob Jewell's try, particularly two forward passes, one which resulted in a scrum to Natal rather than seven points to us, and one which resulted in seven points to Natal. Still it was an excellent evening's entertainment which I am sure was enjoyed by everyone that was there.

On the injury front Ugo Monye is struggling with an ankle injury which means he will miss Sunday's game against Brive as well as the England sevens competitions in Wellington and Los Angeles. Josh Taumalolo should take some part in the second XV game against Saracens on Monday evening and Simon Miall is expected to return to action sometime during February when we have a series of 2nd XV fixtures.

Will Greenwood will not be travelling to Brive this weekend. Although fit to play it was decided for family reasons to allow Will to stay at home with his wife Caro who was having the stitches removed following the operation she had back in June.

As with the rest of the country our training has been somewhat disrupted by the weather with frozen pitches, but we have been able to do some practice indoors, which I suspect the players enjoyed rather more that going out onto the icy, snow covered pitches here at Aldershot.

We will be travelling to Brive on Saturday morning with a very simple attitude. It is half time and the job is therefore only half done. It is a cliché to say that the score is 0 - 0, but as far as we are concerned that is exactly what it is!

Next week we return to action in the Zurich Premiership with a crucial game against Saracens and we will all looking forward to seeing you at The Stoop for that one.