Mike Ruddock has branded the European Challenge Cup game with Bourgoin a ‘must-win’ as Worcester Warriors preapre for the second part of the double header on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
Warriors – who went all the way to the 2008 European Challenge Cup final – face Bourgoin at Sixways in a crucial Pool 3 clash that could go some way to determining the automatic group quarter-final qualifier.
Bourgoin won 29-14 at Stade Pierre Rajon in Round 3 and now the Warriors must make home advantage count against their French rivals.
“Obviously this is a must-win game for us,” said Warriors Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock. “We were bitterly disappointed with both our performance and the result last weekend and we are not going to let that happen at Sixways.
“Losing would hand control of the Pool over to Bourgoin – which would be a big blow to our qualification hopes.
“And we know it is going to be a tough match because Bourgoin are certainly hitting some good form at the moment.
“They won away at Castres Olympique a couple of weeks ago so we know that they can win away from home. They will no doubt be feeling pretty confident after their victory last weekend and we under-performed so it’s going to be a hard week.
“We made some crucial mistakes last week. Obviously the early try was not in the plans but it was still recoverable but to give away another try through our mistakes put the game out of reach for us and we’re very disappointed with that.
“And we’re in a tough spot in terms of injuries at the moment. To have a world-class 15 like Chris Latham sidelined – and then to lose his back-up – has been tough.
“We also have two outside halves unavailable and to be weakened in two key positions is tough. To add the loss of Miles Benjamin to that does leave us feeling a little bit vulnerable in the back line but there are no excuses.
“We have a lot of good youngsters playing at the moment so I feel this game is within our reach.
“Bourgoin have an excellent out half pairing and their full back is also very strong so we need to concentrate on giving them less space and put them under more pressure.
“We tried to play too much rugby last week and so we’ll focus on keeping it simple and retaining possession rather than throwing the ball around. Given the turnovers last week, we’ll also be concentrating on our work in the tackle area.
“We have always set high standards in this competition and we need to put last week’s result and performance firmly behind us.”