THERE are some days in life that you never forget and last Saturday was certainly one of them.

It was an emotional and stressful day for everybody concerned at the club, but ultimately a rewarding one after guaranteeing our safety in the Zurich Premiership.

The buzz and excitement, not just around Sixways but also around the city, in the aftermath of our victory over Northampton was unbelievable.

If you looked around Worcester on Saturday night in the pubs and in the streets, people were wearing tops in gold and blue everywhere and that was fantastic.

We received a tremendous amount of support before the game, some in the form of really nice letters, including one from Tom Moody at Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

The affiliation between the two clubs is good and I think there's a common purpose between both clubs, and in other sports, to make the city proud of their sportsmen and to make the public happy. Sport is really taking off in Worcester and, for that, I am really pleased.

I'm very, very proud of our achievements, not just from Saturday's result but over the course of the season. To come into a league of this stature and to be able to look at the table on Monday morning and see us finish ninth with 42 points is exceptional, especially considering how previous sides have done after coming up.

There's been a lot of hard work put into it. Obviously myself and John Brain work very closely together, but this was a total team effort and other people deserve the same credit. It's important I mention Billy McGinty, who has done hours and hours of analysing, breaking things down to players and giving them as much information as he can.

There is also Phil Richards, our fitness conditioner, physio Clare Woodward, and not forgetting Tony Boddy, our team manager, and kitman Ray Morgan.

All those people do things behind the scenes that help the team out, to prepare well for every game and that's what it was about.

Then we have the players, the supporters and, of course, the club's owner Cecil Duckworth. Everybody is in this to-gether and everybody shares success.

There is a feel-good factor around the place and I believe that will carry into the wildcard play-off at Saracens.

This game is all about mental preparation. It was a bit exhausting after the Northampton game because the preparation was so huge, but the good thing was we returned to the routine of training yesterday. We had to get back on the horse quickly.

There will not be much physical preparation because we have a few injuries and the boys are on their knees in that respect. What we've now got amounts to desire and that's down to the individuals.

The crowd has been sensational throughout the season and it would be good to give them more to celebrate.

Firstly, we are pleased to have a chance of qualifying for Europe and that would be a dream for this club in our first top-flight season. And secondly, we've got a cup final for the fans on May 21.

It's going to be a close game with Saracens tomorrow, we certainly hope that's the case. They are a good side, full of internationals, and they are expected to get into Europe. We go there as underdogs because they have home advantage.

We had a good game against them at Sixways, which we could have won. If we had, it wouldn't have led to the drama of Saturday. It would be terrific if we could return the favour. A cup final at Twicken-ham is something everybody would love.