Ugo Monye: After big freeze, the heat is on to perform for club and country

At the end of Sunday's game, the crowd joined with the Sale players for a snowball fight - how many times does that happen after a big game?

That defeat means we only have two points from our pool matches, which is very disappointing because we wanted to build on last season's success when we reached the quarter-finals.

However, the team showed a lot of pride at Sale and played well, which gives us confidence for Sunday's match with London Wasps at Twickenham. The game is expected to be an 82,000 sell-out and it is one that we have to win to keep moving in the right direction in the Guinness Premiership after our poor start.

The bottom line is that we are out of the Heineken Cup and that is hard to take for everyone at Quins, even though we knew it was a tough group and we could have won both Sale games and the one at home against Toulouse.

With our interest in Europe at an end, our focus has to be on the Premiership and finishing high enough in the table to qualify for next season's Heineken Cup. When I look back at 2009, the highs far outweigh the lows because I was privileged to become a Test Lion in South Africa and play in the Six Nations for the first time.

While I was disappointed by my performance against Argentina last month, I did bounce back against New Zealand the following week and the whole England set-up is determined to build on the improvements we showed.

A number of injured players are now fit after missing the autumn Tests and they include my great mate Delon Armitage, who signalled his return from a shoulder injury with a try for London Irish against Brive last Saturday.

I know how hard Delon has been working with everyone at Irish to get back to full fitness and he will be a major asset for the Six Nations. The cavalry is coming in terms of players who were ruled out last month but, like Delon, will be back for the Championship, which starts in February.

As the season progresses and with all the different competitions and squad sessions, my thoughts are on the 12 remaining Premiership games and the Six Nations which I would love to be involved in again.

At Quins, we are finding a bit of form after that slow start which is encouraging and with England there is a real determination to kick on from the autumn Tests and show that all the hard work that has been put in by the players and management is paying off for us.

There was a lot of criticism during last month's internationals but the squad remained tight and I am confident we will make an impact in the Six Nations. Let's remember we finished second in the Championship this year and have lots to build on in the coming months.

Now, all I need is to discover that we are entering a period of warmer weather, the snow disappears and life out on the wing becomes a little bit easier for those of us who wear No14 or No11.

There are only so many star jumps you can do to keep warm in a game without people thinking you have gone a little bit crazy in the cold.