QUESTIONS

How’s pre-season been? We’ve been back for 10 weeks now and it’s been a hard one but a good one. We’re just eager for the season to start. How are the new recruits settling in? They got up to speed with the system quickly and that’s what made for a good preseason. They’re comfortable with everything which is a very good thing. What about James Buckland taking over as head coach? The transition has been really smooth. All the boys knew James from last year as he joined mid-season. They respect him a lot and he’s added to what was already a good foundation put in place by Rowland Phillips. First game last week in Wales? We played Merthyr and we won 31-7. It’s nice to see the things we’d been working on in training being applied during games. It was a good performance to build on. What did you focus on this summer? There is always a lot to work on but we worked a lot harder in attack to score more tries. Defensively we’ve made sure everyone knows what to do depending on which system we use. How do you look back at last season? We didn’t start as best as we could have but we came together towards the end of it and if we’d had a couple more games I think we’d have made the play-offs. That is our goal this season. What happened at the start of last season? We got a bit complacent after winning our first few games. The boys thought we were better than we were so it was a rude awakening when we weren’t winning. We had to go back to basics and build again. All that work came through towards the end of the season. How hard was it to admit? It’s never easy to tell boys we’re not as good as we think we are. We can be very good but we have to work very hard in training in order to do so. Are London Irish favourites this season? They’re coming down from the Premiership so they’ll be very strong. But you can’t discount Yorkshire Carnegie, Doncaster and Bedford. Our first game is at Rotherham which will be a very tough start in itself. Happy to be named club captain for the season? I’m delighted with that. It’s a privilege to captain a club so when I was asked I took it with both hands. It’s a great opportunity and I hope I can do the club proud. Fourth season at the club? Hopefully there’ll be more to come. We got promoted to the Premiership in my first season which was amazing but then got dropped without winning a single game. Last year was tough so hopefully we’ll do well this season again. What sort of captain are you? I’d like to think I lead from the front. I’m not very vocal but I’ve always liked to take the lead. All started at Leicester a few years back? Yes that’s where I learned my trade as they say. I spent seven seasons there but I got a few injuries at the wrong time. I then went to Moseley and that’s where I got picked up by London Welsh in 2013. Born in South Africa? Indeed, but I’ve been here since I was five. My dad is a successful dentist and he thought we’d have more opportunities moving to the UK. I started playing for the Tigers while at school and it went from there. Achieved a fair bit while at Welford Road, didn’t you? I represented England at U16s and U18s level on my way to the first team. I ended up playing in the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Bath in 2009 which is a game I’ll never forget. I’m just disappointed I was injured when opportunities for me to play more came my way. If not rugby what would you be doing? I’d probably try to be a trader in the City. That’s something I’m working on at the moment for after rugby. Favourite cheat meal? I have a lovely wife who cooks really well but I’d have to say a carbonara on the Friday night. Three special dinner guests? Will Ferrell, Nelson Mandela and Angelina Jolie. Best and worst banter at London Welsh? James Lewis is pretty good unlike his twin brother Rob. Best and worst dressed? I’ll give best to Ryan Glynn and the worst to Kieran Murphy.