Delighted Worcester Warriors boss Mike Ruddock hailed the derby day victory over Gloucester – and insisted ‘tonight we saw the future’.
Warriors secured a first ever win at Kinsgholm – and derby day double this season – with a tense 13-6 victory after a stunning first half effort from Netani Talei and brilliant defensive effort.
Ruddock was full of praise for his dedicated derby battlers after they claimed local bragging rites by completing the double.
And he claimed the fans that had travelled had seen ‘the future’ as a team with a blend of youth and experience knitted together in style.
“Tonight I saw the future,” said Ruddock. “Not just some great young players playing alongside some experienced players, but players buying into the systems we have been working off and producing that fantastic effort for 80 minutes.
“We have some young players in the squad at the moment, I think we have blooded 16 players in the first team this year who are either in the Academy or have been.
“Graham Kitchener was just fantastic and Jonny Arr and James Collins came off the bench too. Miles Benjamin is an Academy product as is Callum Black and Tom Wood.
“We set ourselves the goal of doing the double over Gloucester – that was the target we set,” he added.
“It might sound far-fetched with our position in the league, but we fancied we could do it after the first time at Sixways.
“With their short turnaround after the cup final we thought we could come here and win for the first time. The key to it was looking at what Cardiff Blues did at the weekend, they were very physical.
“We actually showed the interviews that Mike Tindall and Iain Balshaw did at half-time in that game when they said Cardiff had been physical and outmuscled them. That was our goal, to do the same.
“Our defence in the end has won us the game, our physicality going forward and in defence. Our defence has been Jekyll and Hyde all season, but when we get it right we can beat the top sides. It is just coming up with that consistency.”