PLAY-OFF week one: We are under no illusions as to what awaits us come Sunday afternoon at Bristol.

We will travel down the M5 to meet a Bristol side who have struggled to fire for the regular season — the ‘warm-up’ to the bit that matters.

This, however, means absolutely nothing now.

The Memorial Stadium will be buzzing with the anticipation of upsetting our promotion hopes.

The Bristol team will resemble the side we faced for the first 20 minutes back in January, where we found ourselves several points behind early on. Only this time we know they will be motivated for the entirety of the match. As I said, we are under no illusions as to what awaits us and so we know how to beat it.

We have entered this week with confidence and the closest we have been as a group so far. The benefits from our trip to Portsmouth and the HMS Ark Royal were rounded off nicely with a convincing win against Moseley.

There are many positives to be taken from our performance, but there is also plenty for us to work on.

Matt Mullan completed 80 minutes of rugby and came through exceptionally well. He showed really pleasing form in key areas but, for me, the way he carried the ball was the most pleasing. Another top performer was Adam Balding, whose recent form has been hugely impressive.

Just like last weekend against the Pirates, he offered himself up to carry time after time.

Alex Grove was superb. He showed how devastating he can be, with his outside break complimented by great pace. These traits will be extremely useful during the next couple of months. Also, Joe Carlisle had a fantastic game and his seasoned kicking boot was on fire!

The play-offs will demand a lot from our kickers so it is good to know we have some strong options in that department.

As a team, we were disappointed with conceding two tries and once again taking our foot off the gas towards the end of the game.

We have the ability to play for the full 80 minutes and it’s something I’ve been talking about all season. This Sunday would be a good time to start.

As a result of beating Moseley, we find ourselves in the last four of the British & Irish Cup and facing Bedford away from home. By the time this fixture comes about, there will have been many things decided — one of them must be us winning our play-off group.

The next few months are going to be very exciting.

We are beginning to see the shape of our squad evolve for next season and, despite losing some great players, we are recruiting well.

The people we are bringing in seem to possess the qualities we want to represent us as a team. It will be a real shame to see Callum Black leave us at the end of the season.

He has been a fantastic player for the club over many years and will undoubtedly be one of the best in his position one day.

I also have no doubt he will fulfil his international ambitions in the near future. For now, Callum, along with the rest of the squad, will be putting everything they have into earning us promotion.