Crook delight at ideal trip to Madrid

Fly half George Crook admitted it had been the ‘ideal trip’ for Worcester Warriors as they claimed a bonus point win in the Spanish sunshine to launch the club’s Amlin Challenge Cup bid.

Crook was handed his first senior start in the capital city and contributed 13 points and an assured show at fly half as Warriors ran out 38-5 winners over Olympus Rugby XV Madrid.

The Academy product admitted the scorching temperatures pitch-side had taken the sting out of Warriors in the second half.

But Crook, who last week turned 21-years-old, admitted the result was all important as Warriors leapfrogged Montpellier into second place in the cup standings.

“I really enjoyed the game and it was great to get the result,” said Crook. “There are always things you want to improve in your game, but it was nice to have some momentum in the first half and play with the ball in the sunshine.

“We certainly didn’t sit off in the second half – it was the heat that was horrible to play in. We were all puffing and panting a little bit in the humid weather.

“The sin binning stopped us getting on the front foot, but we didn’t let them score in the second half during all their pressure and that is a positive. We have to give credit to Madrid too, they are not a bad team and were always going to have their moments.

“It was a no pressure game for Madrid, it was a win, win situation for them and they threw it around quite nicely. But we had a job to do and that is exactly what we did.

“I was pleased my parts of my game and with my kicking off the tee. It was a close call whether Calum MacRae or I would take the kicks so I was chuffed to get the nod.

“It’s been the ideal trip for us, it is job done from our point of view and now we look to Harlequins and put the Amlin Challenge Cup to the back of our minds until December.”


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