I HAVE to admit I loved the atmosphere at Sixways on Saturday. Although we would have liked there to be a few more in there, the singing from the supporters was great.

It's the first time I've been part of that in England. Of course, you see it on the television back home in the football matches but to hear the fans chant 'Worcester' was lovely.

Sometimes it can go unnoticed but the crowd plays an important part in the outcome of a match. The players respond to a good atmosphere and it can make so much difference to the result.

I think our performance actually buoyed the crowd on Saturday as we saw off Orrell 35-10, certainly the first half anyway! It is always a bit of a chicken and egg situation -- you want the crowd to get behind you but you also need to get them going by playing well. At the weekend, after getting the four tries, the atmosphere in the ground was great and a real boost to be part of it.

My message to the people who stayed away is come back to Sixways! We need you! This promises to be a landmark season in the history of Worcester and I hope people want to be part of the evolution. We know the crowds will come when we reach the Premiership but people now have the chance to say: 'I was there when we won our way to the top.'

Our next home game is against Exeter and that really promises to be a cracker so I hope people turn out because it makes such a difference to all the players.

Before that we travel to Otley on Saturday and I'm certainly looking forward to trying to understand the Yorkshire accent! When I first came over to this country I was worried about understanding the language. People have set me straight since then -- it's not the language you have to worry about, it's the accents. For me on a personal level, it's wonderful to go to these new places because I've only really known London when I've been to England in the past.

We were satisfied with the result against Orrell but, as usual, we are striving to improve the performance because there were many areas where we have to go up a few gears. A little like the Coventry performance, we went off the boil a bit in the second half and we have to do better than that.

We have to get nasty when we get on top and go for the jugular because there was a period in the second half where we gave Orrell a little glimpse of getting back into the game.

I have to hold my hand up because that period coincided with me getting sin binned and that's just not good enough. I tripped a player and deserved to go. It disrupted the team, though, and that is unacceptable.

One of the major plus points to come out of the Orrell game, ironically considering our attacking display, was our defence. We had to dig in on a number of occasions and showed some real character on the goal line when they were pushing for a try. We showed a real team ethic and a great work-rate not only when we had the ball but also when we were defending.

It must also be said that both the coaches John Brain and Andy Keast really helped the players with their homework because their preparation for the game was first class.

Otley is a great opportunity to make sure there is no complacency within the camp after such a good result at the weekend. It's fatal to go into a game thinking you've done well in your last match because there is always someone around the corner ready to surprise you.

We will prepare for Otley as we prepare for any other game otherwise we might as well just not turn up. We go there looking for five points but, at the same time, take nothing for granted.

n Congratulations to David and Lindsay Officer on the birth of their baby daughter Hannah. Lets just hope David's wide awake come Saturday!