When the Worcester Warriors went all out against Petrarca
October 14, 2008
Mike Ruddock, coach for the Worcester Warriors, hopes that the victory against the Italian side Petrarca will give his team a renewed fervour in acquiring the European Challenge Cup. Last season saw the warriors losing 24-16 to Bath at Kingsholm and Worcester. They are, however, one of this year’s hot picks, as the crowd would love to have the cup stay in England itself.
Although the atmosphere seemed tense as Petrarca was quite a tough team to beat, the head coach Mike Ruddock was in high spirits throughout the match. Petrarca incidentally won all their home matches in the Italian league. There was also a line up change where Worcester was concerned, as Miles Benjamin had contracted a virus. Rico Gear, the former All Blacks wing, replaced him.
The match was completely in favour of the Warriors. They scored a bonus point well before the game reached 33 minutes. All the thanks went to Grove’s third-minute opener and Latham’s hat trick. Also adding conversions was Matthew Jones who scored four. Latham added another one, making it quite an impressive win. The only score from Petrarca was from former Gloucester outside half, Ludovic Mercier.
