Mark Regan Column: My hard work is paying off

The squad at Bristol Rugby have had the week off, but I have still been in every day working on my fitness – and my efforts appear to have paid off.

I have passed my fitness test – a gruelling 30-minute work-out which involved a lot of running – and am ready to play for the Barbarians at Llanelli tomorrow.

Richard Hill and the club physios thought it would be a good idea for me to get a run-out and I am proud to be representing the Barbarians again.

The Barbarians squad is strong, although it would have been even stronger had some Guinness Premiership matches not been rearranged for this weekend.

I think I will be on the bench, because it is probably a bit early to start a game after my calf injury. But the February 13 Premiership game against Newcastle Falcons is still a realistic goal for me when it comes to making my return to the Bristol Rugby side.

If I can turn up for training with Bristol on Wednesday fully fit and having played 25-30 minutes for the Barbarians, then I will be ready and raring to go for the Newcastle game.

The injured players have been around this week, but it has been a little strange without the majority of the squad there.

Horseboy, Lee Robinson, has gone off to Egypt to see his cousins, the camels, and a lot of the boys have gone away to get a bit of sunshine.

The boys won for a second successive game when they beat Montpellier at the weekend, but I would happily trade that and the win at Toulon for four Premiership points against Newcastle.

And the win over Montpellier came at a cost, with Alfie To'oala and Robert Sidoli getting injured. Rob's injury a lot more serious and I really wish him a speedy recovery.

I would also like say that I am upset Corin Palmer has left the club. I enjoyed my time with Corin and feel he did a lot of good things at the club.

He also became a good personal friend and I will miss him. I have a lot of time for Corin and I know I will catch up with him soon.