OUR lack of discipline cost us dearly at Connacht last Saturday and we need to be much smarter in the future!

If we had kept everybody on the pitch for the whole game we would have won with ease.

Discipline is massively important and losing a player for ten minutes tends to have a huge influence on the game.

We know what to expect from English refs in the Premiership. They are quite consistent in that respect so we tend not to have too much of a problem there.

But when we are playing in Europe, we've got French and Italian officials and they referee differently. They've got a different mind-set and we've got to be a bit more clever.

We were a little bit nave in that sense. We struggled to keep a full complement on the pitch for most of the game and it is always going to be hard when three players are sin-binned.

We've got to react better to those referees but I'm sure we'll put it right and I don't think it will happen again.

But it was very frustrating at the weekend because we played quite a lot of rugby. If we had just put the last two or three per cent together we would have won quite comfortably.

It's a difficult place to go and play. There's no great support and no great atmosphere, so from that point of view it is always difficult.

But in terms of motivation, the lads put all the effort in, which makes it all the more disappointing to lose by a narrow margin.

We know we've got to win two games and hopefully get one bonus point.

I was really surprised that Catania beat Montpellier but it just shows you that they are not that bad a side and they need to be respected.

It will be a huge game when we play Bath on Boxing Day -- not least for them because some of their results haven't reflected the talent in their squad. The pressure is always on at a place like that with such a proud tradition.

There are all sorts of changes at Bath at the moment and there's a huge amount of motivation for them. They are going to be a very, very different prospect to the Bath side that has played some of the previous games.

When they've got their full complement they are a match for anyone in the league.

Throughout their side they have got an awful lot of good players. They've got a tremendous line-out presence and they've got a good squad and they are physical.

We are going to have to play at the very top of our game and get everything spot-on. Brian Ashton is taking over after this game and when you get a new coach it always has the affect of motivating a team because you are playing for your place.

You've got something to prove. You've got to earn the guy's respect and I think there will be an element of that.

If we can get some good results now, it will put us in a really, really strong position. Right now we're in a good position but two or three wins either way will make a big difference to our position.