WE learned lessons from the Moseley match but I felt there were more negative aspects than positive.

We have to find the balance between winning and growing as a team and we can’t sacrifice the one for the other.

We can’t expect the team to be firing at 100 per cent from day one. It’s going to take time and, as we grow, we have to iron out problems.

It was a very frustrating game against Moseley and I thought we initially played out of character and struggled to impose ourselves. Moseley played well, took their opportunities and made it a scrappy game and I felt we got pulled down a little bit.

It was my first game in the Championship and it’s a different way of playing than in the Premiership.

The mindset is different in the Championship — there are teams wanting to prove a point and cause disruption in key areas. We had a very dominant scrum and we were not rewarded for our efforts.

At half-time, we came into the changing rooms and some players thought we should have been 25 points ahead.

But the reaction we got on Monday night in the Cavaliers’ win against Gloucester was amazing — the lads put their hands up for first-team selection.

It was good to see young guys like Christian Scotland-Williamson coming through against Moseley. We need to create opportunities for young players and it’s great to see players like him making the most of a chance to play in the first team.

I enjoyed captaining the side but I was blowing a bit at the end and I think a week off without training in South Africa for my sister’s wedding did not help my fitness.

I am a captain who leads by example — I love to be involved in the first hits in a match and involved in the first carry.

I don’t think I played too well — there were a few things that I did well — but I think I was off the pace a little bit.

Mentally, I was not on the page which I should have been.

We had a really good training session this week — the boys are looking fresh and happy and it’s another opportunity for us to improve.

Saturday’s opponents, Doncaster Knights, are a topquality side with a heavy pack and have proven their ability with two wins out of two.

Doncaster are well-coached team but we have to enforce ourselves on them and it will be a big test for us in our second away game in the Championship.

We know that we have to improve a lot on last week’s display.