OUR European adventure came to a shuddering halt on Saturday night when we left Brive thoroughly frustrated.

The 40-10 defeat, which put us out of the European Challenge Cup, was so disappointing because we were left feeling as if we'd not done ourselves justice.

We went into the second leg delighted to have a 14-point cushion but I think in some respects that actually worked against us in the first half at the Stade Amedee Domenech. We just didn't play in that period and, at half time, found ourselves staring down the barrel at 25-3.

What was encouraging, however, is that we turned it around in the second half, scored a try and got a lot more of our team patterns going. We played like a unit and that's the only way we can make progress. Sadly, the damage was already done by then but the players will take a huge amount from the experience.

People have said that the defeat was the fault of our backs but I just can't accept that. We win as a team, we lose as one and, for me, we went into that first-half trying to defend a lead. That was fatal.

The message all week was to make sure we stopped them from playing and to go out and take the game to our illustrious opposition. Unfortunately, we didn't do that and Brive needed no second invitation to get on the front foot. Certainly, you can't play rugby if you haven't got the platform right.

Everybody saw at Sixways recently how we stopped Gloucester playing but we never did that against Brive and their backs got good ball from the scrum before finishing off their moves well.

That gave their home crowd great encouragement but I must say that our supporters were first class. The players were sent out at the end to applaud them because they'd made such a great effort to support their club and everyone connected to Worcester really appreciated their commitment. They didn't have much to shout about on the night but let's hope that it won't be their last high-profile European trip.

I've always believed that this competition would help us in the long run and I've no doubt -- despite the defeat -- that the players will have learnt from the two legs. We will soon be facing a trip to Northampton and probably a full house at Franklin's Gardens. A similar experience awaits us at Welford Road next month. You don't stop learning about a new squad and we learnt a bit more about the players in France.

For me, that away leg in Brive is one to remember and, crucially, learn from. We always say that in sport that the true test of a team is how they respond to adversity. We've suffered a heavy defeat -- now we must react.

We go to London Irish next but not with the best preparation. James Brown, Thomas Lombard and Ben Hinshelwood haven't trained this week, while injuries in the pack are still restricting our choices. James, Thomas and Ben are really struggling to make the game and that's such a pity because we wanted to take a full strength side to the Madejski Stadium. Sadly, we're looking at another injury crisis.

It's a game that people are billing as a 'relegation clash' but we certainly won't be underestimating them. To me, the Irish are one of the hardest working units in the Premiership and if anybody goes there thinking they are in for an easy win, they will get turned over.

Obviously, we're desperate to get that first win away from home. We've come close at Saracens and Leeds but haven't quite been able to turn territory into points. Now we face another test of how far we've come.