Post Donny Comment

Andre Bester

“The first twenty we weren’t in the game, the second twenty they scored their only try against the run of play while we were playing rugby. We were playing the rugby and they only once looked liked scoring one try and that was the interception.

They did play very well in the first twenty minutes; we couldn’t get our hands on the ball. Jim (Kilfoyle) said they would come out very fast and they did. We were too frantic in the beginning and then suddenly we started to get some momentum going in the last 20 of the first half.

We probably made the wrong call when they went down to fourteen men. We should have gone for the scrum five against their seven, but we didn’t and I’ll take the responsibility for that.

We let them get out of there and they scored ten points and all ten were against the run of play. The one where they got the interception we had a three on one overlap and Kirky just threw the pass. But that’s how Kirky will learn, there’s no other way. He’s got great potential but you need to be put into pressure cooker matches.

I was disappointed at half time, but not with the performance. We knew they were going to come out big time and we knew they were going to put us under pressure in the first twenty because they have a big pack of forwards with lots of experience.

I was disappointed that they scored points off our mistakes, but they never created anything, it was us giving it away. We didn’t hit the panic button at half time; we just said they’re living off our mistakes. Tighten up the mistakes, take the match head on and we’ll play a physical game.

We’ve said from the start we’ll play a physical game and we’ll prove to everybody out there, it doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, where you are from, this team takes you physically head on. We can cope with anything and we’ll put you away.

We just said to them at half time, put the squeeze on them and take them on! Suddenly the guys realized at half time it wasn’t such a difficult game. There was no need to hit the panic button because we knew we were the better side out there.

I’m not that happy at not getting the bonus point, but it was a derby match and even Harlequins struggled to get a bonus point against them in London.”

“That was unbelievable, we were dead and buried at half time. We said at half time, “Come on lads, this is not us!” The last thing we said when we came out the changing room was, “Do we believe we can win this?” and everybody said “Yes, of course we can!”

That’s the spirit we’ve built now and we know we can progress further. When we are down like that it’s fantastic because we know we can turn it around. Last week again our backs were against the wall late on and again we came through and that’s what makes a good team.

In the first half we just didn’t play, I think we were in awe of them. We stood off them, we’d heard about their players who were coming here to make a big impact and that was always going to happen. They wanted to come here, it was their cup final.

But we’ve turned them over; I think they run out of steam. They threw everything at us in the first half and really struggled in the second half. It just goes to show a young set of lads, good fitness levels and we can win big games.

Second half we were going forward all day, so it was absolutely great for me. Driving mauls, pick and goes, everything was working and we made the yards. They had a good first half but we had them all day in the scrum to be honest. It was a fantastic performance.”

“I’ve not played for a few weeks so it’s nice to get back into the team. I know it was at full back, but I’m more than happy to play anywhere. My preference is at number ten and I think long term that’s where I will play.

I have to give Andre credit from my personal point of view. Even when I was not playing, he continued to talk to me and go through the videos with me, we really worked well together.

Even in mid-games when I’ve been on the sidelines, he’s been telling me little points to help me out and his help has been absolutely fantastic. He said he wouldn’t throw me away when he left me out of the team and he certainly hasn’t done that.

It was a local derby and not coming from the area is a little bit different, but we had a couple of speeches at the beginning of the week to really drum into us how important this game was to people. So we went out there knowing just what it meant to the supporters.

We felt a lot of pride out there today. At the start of the season we got hammered in the first 20 minutes at Nottingham and we never really come back. And today the first 20 was probably equally as bad, so it’s really pleasing to come back from that and get the victory.”

Simon Bunting

“It was always going to be hard here, but I thought we put up a good performance. Some penalties went against us today and a good charge down was crucial. Next time when we are at home it may be a different matter! We’ve got to keep banging away at it and we are finding out feet now.

So hopefully it will not be a long season for us and we need to make sure we keep picking up the wins, keep everyone happy and then build again. We want to consolidate this year, but we still want a good season. We don’t want to let ourselves down and I don’t think that will happen.

I’m still trying to get over this ankle injury because I’m still feeling it at the moment. There’s a little bit of arthritis in it, so hopefully after Christmas I’ll be 100% fit, but you have to keep going.

After being with Rotherham for 20 years, playing against them felt funny to tell you the truth. Half the time you think you’re still here. But I’m going to give it one more year. After that they may be an opportunity to get involved with Craig West and Sam Coy with the younger players.”