Assistant Head Coach Nigel Redman paid tribute to Bizkaia Gernika RT, the groundstaff at Sixways and the Worcester supporters as Warriors overcame adversity to end the European season on a high.
Warriors ran in 11 tries to overwhelm battling Gernika 71-19 in ice cold conditions at Sixways.
However, Redman insisted the real heroes were those that pulled together to make the game happen after heavy snow across the region had left the Amlin Challenge Cup game in real doubt.
“I think first and foremost you say thank you to the ground staff and fans for getting the game on and Gernika for making a very difficult trip here. Not to forget those supporters who came down to watch,” he said.
“We were determined to get the game on so before we even started the match we needed to say a big thank you to Gernika, the groundstaff and all the supporters.
“In terms of the game, we said before that we would judge ourselves on our accuracy of attack, our lines of running and our understanding of the roles throughout the team.
“All of these players had not played for a number of weeks prior to the Rovigo game. That was a work on so we will look at the tape and look at their accuracy first.
“Yes, it’s cold out there, but we play in the winter when it’s cold and wet so maybe we should be better at dealing with that.
“However, I thought we played with positive intent, got 11 tries and scored 71 points which I think is still outscoring most teams in the Amlin Challenge Cup.”
Josh Drauniniu, Errie Claassens and Nikki Walker all pushed their claims for a place in the league side when Aviva Premiership action returns next month with try doubles.
And Redman also praised the younger members of the squad with England Under-20 ace Ben Howard scoring after a thrilling length of the field move from the home side.
“You look at Errie, Josh and Nikki, they are all pushing for places long-term. It was important that they pushed themselves today,” he said.
“It’s nice to see Ben (Howard) scoring and a surprise not to see Max Stelling doing it too. Max’s try scoring run has been outstanding in this tournament. Ben came on and showed great pace, particularly when you look at the surface.
“If these players want to be playing in the first team they have got a job to do,” he said.
“We look at the Amlin Challenge Cup and LV= Cup and want to win them. But it is also an opportunity for those that have not been playing in the Aviva Premiership regularly to stake a claim.
“Ultimately, it’s frustrating that we are not going through. I do think qualification should be done over games against all four clubs,” added Redman.
“Credit to Gernika, they turned up after a long journey and played with a lot of intent. They have had back-to-back wins over Rovigo and good performances against Perpignan.
“If you look at the Perpignan result in the week, they were at home to Rovigo and relatively speaking 40-22 was a contest. So it should be done over six games.
“We play home and away against all three teams and it would be nice to know that each game counted on its merits.”
“We were determined to get the game on so before we even started the match we needed to say a big thank you to Gernika, the groundstaff and all the supporters…"