Morning:
8°c
I made more mistakes against Argentina on Saturday than I have in the entire season for Harlequins but I firmly believe it's just a blip.
I don't know how to explain what happened on the pitch because I trained well and felt really confident going into the match. Things just didn't go my way and I have to bounce back stronger.
I watched the game again on Saturday night and had to work out in my own mind what went wrong, draw a line under things and move on. Part of being a professional means you have to go through this process and you must have the strength of personality to deal with highs and lows in what has been a remarkable year for me.
Obviously, this is one of the lows but I have been in similar situations before and fought back and that's exactly what I intend to do this time.
I haven't suddenly become a bad player and I didn't mind switching to the wing in the second half and Mark Cueto did a really good job at full-back after I was taken out of the firing line. I backed the decision and it was clever coaching on Brian Smith's part and I am sure that if I am selected against the All Blacks they will stick the ball up on me. I have no problems with that and I am normally really secure under the high ball and I see that as one of my strengths.
I had a bad day at the office on Saturday, but it doesn't mean I cannot catch the high ball and while I can understand why some fans felt the need to express their feelings as we went in at half time, I can assure them that all the players were also very frustrated.
However, we did get the win and you cannot underestimate the boost this gives everyone in the squad as we prepare to take on New Zealand on Saturday. We knew Argentina would make it tough and we now have to step up the standard of our performance against the All Blacks.
I am sure a lot of people will have already written us off going into this next game and while we acknowledge what the All Blacks are about, we are focusing on what we can achieve against them. You can get obsessed about the opposition and forget about the talented players in your own team and while we are playing below par at the moment we can come back with a strong performance.
There isn't any gloom and doom going into this final match of the Autumn series and it's a chance to show everyone how good we can be against some of the best players in the world.
