Like everyone, you get to the start of January and make resolutions: how am I going to make 2022 a better year than 2021? Given what everyone has been through with the pandemic, it is not going to be hard for most. You start to reassess what you have been doing and try to maximise your potential, and that is interesting from a personal and playing standpoint.

People ask me what I would have changed about my career, and the standard answer is I would not have changed anything. But after hearing from Exeter’s Jack Nowell, announcing that he has given up alcohol, it did make me think that I would not have drunk as much in the early years of my career, particularly from 18 to 22.

Yes, you have to have a fun life. But the amount of binge-drinking that went on during those years was just silly. You would turn up for England “A” training and be told to go straight to bed, then climb out the window and come back in at 5am before going to training at 8.30. You thought those moments were funny at the time, but now you look back and think: “Actually, how fit could I have been?”

My best period physically was when I did not drink as much, during the 1999 World Cup, and the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons. I did not stop completely, but drank nowhere near as much as in the previous five seasons. Physically I was able to get into a much better position, eat better and recover quicker, and if you can do that on a Sunday and a Monday, the training on Monday and Tuesday goes into the bank rather than being wasted. You maintain the fitness level you built up in the pre-season.

Nowell has been through multiple injuries. Is that because of the effects of drinking or style of play? He is very physical, gets stuck in, is involved in more rucks than most wingers. Now he is thinking: “How can I get five per cent better, back in that England squad?” Maybe the beer was the first thing that came to mind.

I am not sure there are more England caps for Nowell, unfortunately, but would be happily proved wrong. The current wingers are about out-and-out pace. He is not someone who stretches the defence, he is high work-rate, high impact, good over the ball. But he is not a Jonny May or Adam Radwan. If you were playing against Nowell, you would show him the outside because you would be more concerned about him stepping back inside. Maybe that is why he has given up the alcohol, to find more pace, which is not impossible.

More often than not, January can be a season restart ahead of the Six Nations after relaxing at Christmas. When I played I would employ a sprint coach or a new training method – people are always looking for an edge.

It is the same with teams. I felt Bristol would do very well this season under the new law interpretations, but they have struggled for a variety of reasons. The names on the team sheet are not that different – Charles Piutau and Semi Radradra have been injured – but they just do not look the same team. Last year they were destroying opponents, particularly in the dry. That leads to head-scratching for Pat Lam and the players.

Sale are coming to Ashton Gate on Friday night and the Bristol thought process this week will have been: “What do we need to do to go back to last year’s performances to charge up the league?” Lam has been open about speaking to third parties, Sir Ian McGeechan and other coaches. There are rumours Nathan Hughes is leaving, which is strange, for me, because he was a big reason behind why they were playing so well.

Bristol also seem a bit caught between two minds at scrum-half. You have Harry Randall’s sniping breaks, and Andy Uren’s good kicking game. Bristol want to play this attacking game but they need territory to do that.

Perhaps they need to just believe in themselves and go back to running it from their own try line. They have almost moulded themselves into something else, as opposed to the Bristol side of last season. Sometimes you lose your way and have to reset. Bristol are not that bad.

The Leicester loss will have hurt and they have carried last season’s Premiership semi-final defeat into this season. There is no magic pill. It is about reassessing, looking internally to find answers. Doing things slightly differently, freshening things up and building confidence. It is the same with Nowell and Bristol. They just need to reinvigorate that belief and the performances will follow.