Pat Howard Quotations

We respect them, they know what they're doing and if we play like we did against the Dragons we'll lose. If we play anything like we know we're capable of we'll win - that's the simplicity of it sometimes.

We have a real win with Brett. We want him to fight for a place until the end of the season. He has played well this season.

We made a decision that he was not quite right for the Sale game, and I felt if we played him it could have turned into one of those injuries that runs and runs. He will be okay to play in the Test match next Saturday.

Obviously, it is great to have Julian White back involved.

If we play like we did against the Dragons, then we will lose,

I'd love Tom to have been available. But now is the right time for him to be furthering his development.

I don't know what he's doing. We have talked to him and he is going to have a look at all his options.

I am sure the pride of the Clermont players will be strong at home. They have got some very good players, and not a lot of teams beat Clermont in Clermont. We must go there to win, and five victories from six starts in this group would be a very strong achievement.

I am sure the pride of the Clermont players will be strong at home.

But this is a big game and I expect big-game players to turn up. I'm sure he'll fatigue during the game at some stage, and we'll have to deal with that, but when he's on the field I know he'll give 150 per cent.

But confidence is something you need and we'll take some of that out of this game.

If we play anything like we know we are capable of, we will win. That is the simplicity of it sometimes.

He has taken that opportunity, he has played really well and I am sure he wants that England spot and it was timely for him. And (in terms of starting for England in the Six Nations) if you are good enough, you are old enough.

He has taken his chances well this season, but you have to phase the other guys back in.

We took our opportunities and kept our composure - we are okay with the result.

He's a bright guy and he's calm in these sort of situations.

He's a significant part of why we do not lose a lot of games like that.

Harry will have a small operation. I think he is likely to be out for a couple of weeks, and hopefully nothing too bad will show up.

Harry is playing well for his country and his club. But Austin has been in great form this season and I wanted to reward him and give him the opportunity to own the competition.

Harry is 100-per-cent fit, and he has done really well to get back as quickly as he has. At the start of the week, he wasn't really in my plans, but he has worked exceptionally hard and I think it is a testament to his work ethic.

Harry is 100 per cent fit and has done well to get back so quickly.

I think it was important to make changes going into the Bristol match, but in a way that result has taught us a bit of a lesson.

It has been a gradual build-up for Julian, and all part of integrating him in. He played 20 minutes, then 40 minutes and now a full game,

I think George is a very good player, and it would have been interesting if he had had a shot at the Tests.

Jim's obviously not very happy, but he understands what we're trying to do,

We were looking for a like-for-like replacement for me and that made the field very narrow. We thought again about the structure and we are being more inventive. We are talking to a lot of guys: there are some good coaches out there and Leicester is not the easiest place to come to because it can be intimidating.

We know if we win our last three games, then it's pretty likely we will be second. It is great to have things under your control.

We didn't bring him back on in case he got a second yellow card. He was so enthusiastic after being out for so long and we were only going to give him 50 minutes anyway.

We are really hoping he will be around next season. We are trying to deal with this part of his career and afterwards. We are trying to get a role that would satisfy both.

We are dealing with a few injuries and a few guys we are not sure if they will get through or not.

You make mistakes in sport and that was a mistake. There were opportunities all over the place and we didn't take them. We saved a poor performance for today and we have to live with that. I want to see whether the mistakes were skill mistakes, decision-making mistakes or poor coaching.

We were tempted to start with Lewis on the bench, particularly given the amount of back rowers at the club who are playing very, very well,

We need to deal with some of our ball control issues, defensive issues and our kicking. We still had a good side out, with four British Lions out on the paddock, and we should have done better.

We've got a big game on our hands.

We had to change Lewis's focus, make him approach the lay-off as an extended close season, an opportunity to really get in shape. He's done just that, which means that in the long-term we should get benefit from it. In the short-term, the benefit will be England's.

At 22-12 behind, I didn't think the game was gone. We knew that 10 points was in our reach, and the players really believed in themselves.

Andy was poorly coming into game. He will be disappointed but we certainly don't blame him.

Saracens are in form and it's going to be a really tough battle.

As a finisher he is pretty special and I still think there's a lot more to come. His feet are very good and he breaks tackles to score tries. Can he play in Tests and do what he did against Wasps? I think he will. He has some attributes the England selectors have to consider.

A late change like this is not ideal,

This is pretty exciting from my perspective, and I know many trappers who also are excited.

They're the safe version of the coral snake. The saying is when red meets yellow, you're a dead fellow. When red meets black, you're OK, Jack.

It's a semi-final and we want to win.

It was frustrating day as a whole because we played poorly.

It was a really tough decision to play Lewis because I think both Brett Deacon and Will Johnson have been playing fantastically, not to mention Luke Abraham's performance last week. But we know Lewis is a very good player, and in all fairness, we would quite like to see him play for Leicester.

It will be a physical game, but I hope it's a pretty clean game. Alan Lewis refereed our game against Clermont and we've been in contact with him. Any issues we raised he had seen already, so I expect him to be the professional he is.

It really wasn't conducive to senior-center activities because you couldn't have multiple activities at the same time.

It's lucky we've got depth. Guys like Alex have played a huge role in the early part of the season.

Everyone in life gets their opportunity somehow and you have got to take it. Tom has had a difficult couple of weeks. I have been giving him a very hard time and he has taken his opportunity with both hands. He said to me before the game he was going to play well and he backed it up.

It was a poor performance, no question about that. Some blokes still turned up and were very good, but a lot of players will have to take a long, hard look at themselves.

They have to be checked in this year, and for at least the next several years. The wildlife division plans to collect all the carcasses.

Things did not work out and we will be going out on Monday to make amends. I learned a lot about certain players - some did good and some did poor.

I know all the teachers were grateful. A lot of kids took theirs home because many often don't have dictionaries at home.

If you've got a defensive line-out and a goal kicker to the standard they have, you've got the makings of a very good side.

I haven't had a two-month pre-season, which would have put me in peak condition,

I don't think there's anyone going out there who hasn't started a first-team game. They have all had enough experience so the guys can say 'I should not be intimidated by this level and now I have to make an impression'.

I don't want to get carried away on this subject because Tom is a work in progress, but if the circumstances were right he could play Test rugby today.

The league does not exist anymore. The aim is to get into the play-offs. That is the way you approach it.