‘The response has been good – we need to bounce back’ - Piutau

The centre insists preparation for the weekend’s top versus bottom clash has been positive and his challenged his side to transfer that into a strong performance at Clifton Lane.

“We’re disappointed about the Jersey game – it obviously wasn’t the result that we wanted,” he said.

“But the reaction has been good - we’ve bounced back and had two weeks to prepare for this game, so there’s been a lot of hard work put in. I think the boys have responded well.

“We’re trying to take it week-by-week. We wanted to go undefeated through the season, but we’re still on task for promotion. For us to get that, we’ve got to take it week-by-week – and we’ve been preparing well so far.

“For us, it’s about not getting bogged down by that loss, and using it as a tool to bounce back.

“We spoke about getting a reaction and the training we’ve put in this week and last – you can see the confidence coming back in the players and it’s about being able to transfer that into this week’s game.”