Ruddock was delighted with the manner in which his side swept to victory on a sun-kissed final day at Sixways Stadium - and overtook the Falcons in the Guinness Premiership table.

“It was a great way to finish the season,” he said. “It was ideal to sign off with a win.

“There were still times when we put the ball down when we shouldn’t have done so. We had a try against us in the first half we weren’t happy with, but in fairness coaches are never happy.

“It was a great confidence booster ahead of the final. We scored so great tries and it was great to see them playing with that liberation.

“Earlier in the season in cost us when we tried to play, we had intercepted tries and things went against us. But we have come a long way and we are seeing better decision making and some great confidence. There is a lot to work forward to, we had done a lot of work this season that will provide us with a great platform for next season.”

Warriors now look forward to the European Challenge Cup final with Bath Rugby at Kingsholm on Sunday, May 25.

And Ruddock admitted the performance of his side on the final afternoon of the domestic competition had given him plenty of food for thought.

“We know it is going to be a lot tougher when we face Bath in the final in a few weeks but plenty of boys put their hands up.

“It was also a great way to say goodbye to a number of players. We gave them a big thank you and let them run out together before the rest of the team.

“The crowd were, as ever, fantastic and gave the players who have been magnificent to the club a real send-off and I think some of them are moving on as better players.”