Ruddock’s Worcester gain first win

Jan 28 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

MIKE RUDDOCK’S Worcester finally picked up their first Guinness Premiership win of the season as a struggling Bristol outfit subsided 25-5 at Sixways.

Tries by Pat Sanderson, Greg Rawlinson and Dale Rasmussen helped the Warriors put daylight between themselves and bottom club, Leeds Carnegie.

Rugby director Ruddock, the former Wales coach, said: “We need to use this to press on. We know we are where we shouldn’t be at the moment in the table, but this has been a period of transition.”

Bristol head Richard Hill claimed the rigours of European competition – back-to-back games against Stade Francais and Cardiff Blues – have taken their toll on his players.

Hill said: “We are on our backsides at the moment, and the three-week break for us during the Six Nations cannot come soon enough.”

Guinness Premiership champions Leicester have started prowling menacingly in the title play-off zone – thanks to a little help from former England boss Andy Robinson.

The Tigers’ 41-14 mauling of Newcastle edged them closer towards leaders Gloucester – they travel to Kingsholm on February 9 – and continued an impressive recovery since Robinson’s Edinburgh dumped Leicester from Heineken Cup contention.

Wasps suffered a fifth defeat of the league campaign, beaten 18-17 by Gloucester at Kingsholm despite a second-half revival that produced converted tries for hooker James Buckland and centre Dominic Waldouck.

But rugby director Ian McGeechan still delivered an upbeat assessment of his team’s title chances, even though Wasps are currently flagging in the race for play-off places.

McGeechan said: “We can make the top four, without a doubt. But we will have to play like we played against Gloucester every week. We didn’t do a lot wrong – we just didn’t finish the job.”

Fly-half Ryan Lamb kicked six penalties for Gloucester, who posted a 17th successive Premiership home win since Wasps beat them 37-32 in May, 2006.