The disappointing thing was, however, despite dominating the territorial advantage, we found ourselves 9-6 down at the break and it was that failure to convert possession into points that ultimately led to our downfall.

Our lineout on the day was exceptional with us winning all but two from the eight or nine awarded, while we certainly held our own in the scrum against, arguably, the best scrummage in the Premiership.

In that respect, it was disappointing to be eight points down going into the last few minutes, but it was pleasing when Adrian Jarvis kicked over a penalty in the dying seconds to secure us a bonus point, which we would have no doubt taken at the start of the season.

There were a few worried faces from England fans at the sight of winger David Strettle having to limp off with a dead leg, but I can assure them that David will be joining up with the squad as normal this week and be available for selection for the game against France at Twickenham on Sunday.

That is at least one piece of good news for England coach Brian Ashton, who would have suffered the odd headache or two at the sight of some of his key men picking up knocks playing for their clubs.

He will be well aware though that 24 / 48 hours is a long time in sport, and it will be interesting to see just how many of Brian's wounded make full recoveries in time for the visit of the French.

Sadly, we're back to that club-versus-country row again and attentions now turn to Rob Andrew and his working group in a bid to finally seek a solution.

Copy courtesy of City AM.