Albi will call on pride and passion in their effort to set the record straight when Warriors travel to the mid-Pyrenees for Saturday’s ERC Challenge Cup rematch.
The French outfit is determined to put the lessons of last weekend’s 29-0 defeat at Sixways to use at Le Stadium Municipal d’Albi.
According to Welsh outside half Cerith Rees, the squad has more to show than their performance suggested.
“Although we were underdogs for the game against Worcester, we were bitterly disappointed with our performance and the result,” he admits. “We didn’t know what to expect going over to Worcester, but we didn’t play the game we’re capable of, and that’s something we’re planning to redress in front of our own supporters.”
The 26-year-old says the newly-promoted club’s heavy schedule is no excuse for the Sixways shut-out.
“We sent out a strong team and we should have performed better. It means a lot for the guys here, many of whom have never played outside France. So this was the first game against an English team for a lot of the squad.
“It’s true that our coach, Eric Bechu, wouldn’t have left any of us behind as it was such a big opportunity for so many of the guys. Hopefully, we’ll take the lessons we learned and put them into a convincing performance on Saturday.”
He cited Worcester’s powerful lineout, quick recycling and clinical finishing as the key to the defeat that left Warriors just two points behind ASM Clermont-Auvergne in the Pool 5 table.
“Every time they get an opportunity, they’re capable of putting it away without making mistakes, and we suffered from our lack of finishing. We created a lot of scoring opportunities, but weren’t able to convert them into points. That, along with our defence, will be our main target areas for next week.”
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP POOL 5 TABLE
| Team | Pl | W | D | L | Tr | F | A | TB | LB | PTS |
| ASM Clermont-Auvergne | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 73 | 53 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Worcester Warriors | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 77 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Viadana | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 42 | 52 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| SC Albi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 34 | 85 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Results so far: Albi 21 Clermont 30; Worcester 25 Viadana 7; Viadana 26 Albi 13; Clermont 29 Worcester 23; Worcester 29 Albi 0; Viadana 9 Clermont 14
TB = Try bonus point (4 or more tries); LB = Losing bonus point (losing by 7 or less points)
Until teams have played all their pool opponents twice (home and away) the rankings of teams level on match points in the same pool will be determined by a) the total number of tries scored in all Pool matches, and b) aggregate points difference from all pool matches