When asked if the poor results could lead to his resignation he admits: "It might not be up to me if the powers that be decide that a change is needed, because you can't hide from the results, but I’m no quitter and neither are the guys I have here.
"It has not been easy, but we have spent a lot of time recently analysing things and working out how we move things forward again and I think we know where we are now. At the start of the season we focused hard on improving skill levels.
"The players here are good guys and they took to it well, training was good and we got some good results. Now, some people thought we were great because we managed a decent few victories and when I tried to explain that we were doing okay, but no better, they thought I was being too harsh, too critical. But I knew then we’d have major problems when we came up against the best sides in Europe unless we moved up a gear.
"Before the end of the year, we changed things to try and take the team up that next step, but we discovered in those big games that the skills weren’t up to it under the kind of pressure you face at the top level. I have to look at it and say that maybe that was an error of judgment on my part, and I realise, although I’m just being honest with people, I can’t boot the guys when they’re down.
"We've decided now to step back again, to try and rediscover the confidence we had at the start and build it back up so that when we do take that next step the core skills will be able to cope in the intensity of European Cup rugby.
"Confidence, and getting the players all together again, with a belief in themselves and what we’re trying to do, is the biggest thing now and that's what I need to work on."