Mike Ruddock called on his Worcester Warriors to make home advantage count in the coming months in the Guinness Premiership – and vowed to stamp out the indiscipline after three yellow cards against Bath Rugby at The Rec.
Worcester saw Tom Wood sent off in the 37-13 defeat and also lost Chris Latham to the sin bin -a decision that Ruddock branded as ‘very harsh’ against the Australian full back.
Warriors are next in action against Newcastle Falcons on Friday night at Sixways Stadium (kick-off 8pm).
And Ruddock acknowledged that home form would be crucial for his team in the season run in, with five of the last league games on Sixways soil.
“I think there is a dog-fight for a number of teams – not just us,” he said. “We’ve got eight games left and five of them are at home, it is in our hands to play well and make home advantage count in the run in.
“We have also got Sale Sharks to play away, we have had some good wins there in recent years, and we have got Leeds away as well. That is a big game for us too.
“Nothing has really changed for us, we knew we would have to go and win those games anyway and that is what we need to do.
“I am as frustrated as anyone with the number of yellow cards,” he added. “My video session of the Wembley game was basically going through each penalty with each player and asking them why they behaved the way they did, why they made that decision.
“Today both sides actually gave away the same amount of penalties, but I am trying my best to reduce that and I will be asking Ed Morrison this week if I can bring in a referee to work with us and give us some guidance.
“It is frustrating when we point these things out and work is done to correct them. Under fatigue and in the heat of battle some people are still making some bad decisions.
“We really hurt ourselves again today with that red card. I told the players afterwards that we have to find a way of reducing the amount of penalties and yellow cards against us.
“We also lost Latham, just before Tom Wood got sent off, which I thought was very harsh on him. Latham doesn’t need to change his line of run and that will be one to look at on the video.”
Warriors versus Newcastle Falcons in the Guinness Premiership. Call the Warriors Box Office for more details on 01905 454183 or click online HERE