Mike Ruddock admitted he was looking forward to the prospect of returning to tackle French side Bourgoin in the European Challenge Cup semi-finals – after impressively defeating countrymen Brive in the last eight.
Warriors face a return trip to Bourgoin in the last four early next month in the cup after the French side stunned London Irish during the week.
Ruddock has already taken his men to the Stade Pierre Rajon once this season after defeat in the group stages in December.
But Warriors gained revenge in the home leg just eight days later and Director of Rugby Ruddock insists the trip will now hold no surprises for his troops.
“Bourgoin is a very intimidating place to go – we know that,” said Ruddock.
“They are a physical team but also very skilful, particularly around eight, nine and ten as we saw against London Irish the other night.
“They play with a lot of heart then so certainly they will be up for the challenge. They will want to go all the way and win this.
“We lost when we went out there earlier this season, but on aggregate over the course of two games we were ahead.
“We were depleted when we went there. We had to have a lot of youngsters front up on that occasion. We are hoping to take a few more first picks this time so hopefully that will even things up a little bit away from home.”
Warriors are now just two wins away from Heineken Cup rugby next season and Ruddock is keen for his men to face the challenge head on – but admits he could now be without the services of Kai Horstmann.
“Kai looks like he has broken one or two ribs so it looks like he will struggle to make that ga,e, but he is a tough guy so you never know,” said Ruddock.
“Winning the cup will be tough, the impact we can make from the bench is not what we would want at the moment and what it was like a few months ago.
“But we have shown a lot of bottle and spirit, a lot of skills and ability and we have turned over a top French team in Brive with a number of players missing so you never know.
“We have high standards in this competition, it is now all about turning up on the day and performing and I’m sure the guys will do that.”