Fine margins
"We understand the issue now for us is focus on the small things, and the key team details looking at where can we get better. We were a whisker's hair away from winning our last three games. If we work hard, we will turn the corner, start playing better, and we will win games. I have no worries about that but the issue is when there’s a bit of momentum with that."
"It’s a pleasure to come in on a Monday with the work and the attitude being shown. We can’t get too high when we are up and we can’t get too low when we are down."
Dealing with pressure
"I have played in teams that have won a lot of games and lost a lot of games. I coached in Connacht when we lost 13 games in a row so there are times when things are on a nice trajectory, times when you seem to be on fire, players who might be on their top form and building momentum.
"Sometimes momentum goes in the other direction and you have to build out of it. I love winning, the reason I live is doing the job I love, it's challenging but when I come in on a Monday morning I feel invigorated."
"I have a brilliant support network, the guys here - support staff, friends and mentors who I have worked with that I know i can pick up the phone and ring up about a circumstance that I may not have come across before. "
Experience
"My experience of the 13 game losing streak in Connacht was that we really had to hold on to what we believed in, we had to believe in our 'backs to the wall' mindset and come out fighting. It was important, it focused the mind, it was what we stood for. "
"I talked to John Kingston (former Harlequins Head Coach) on Monday who went through bad periods in his career and spoke about trying not to be affected by different things at all angles. Every week I ask what do we stand for? Each week I re-iterate how important it is to support each other and challenge each other as a group."
Confidence
"You always challenge yourself- thinking are you doing the things at the level before, is something wrong? I would argue the evidence is no. "
"You can’t question yourself too much, you can end up going down a rabbit hole. I need to use my energy to drive good quality high performance processes. I look at the fine details but I'm not delving into my soul to find if I am a bad coach or not."
On La Rochelle test
"They offer so many threats throughout their team. They are up in the top three teams in Europe, last time we played them at the Aviva Stadium they gave us lots of problems. They are big team, in terms of size and have lots of talented players. The guys selected for the weekend will relish it and it’s a great opportunity for us to go up against the best."