Worcester Warriors launched their bid for European Challenge Cup glory with an 18-8 victory over Bucuresti in appalling conditions in Romania.
More than 20 hours of ongoing rain left the pitch at the Romanian Federation's national stadium resembling a giant sponge and it was obvious from the start that expansive and running rugby was going to be impossible.
The Warriors struck first as quick hands from Shane Drahm gave Marcel Garvey a sniff of an overlap and he finished off the move to score in the top right-hand corner. There was real concern when he crashed into the pitch safety barriers but thankfully he was soon back to his feet. The same couldn't be said of Drahm though, he took a heavy tackle in the first quarter and despite trying to play on he was forced to make way for Joe Carlisle on 28 minutes.
Worcester struggled with their kicking game throughout the match and, although they totally dominated the home side in the set piece in the first half, Bucuresti were able to keep cancelling out any attacking play with the boot. They couldn't get on to the score sheet until the 39th minute though when fly-half Danut Dumbrava slammed down a loose pass by Chris Pennell and dived on it to equalise as they went into half time.
Bucuresti took the lead for the first and only time straight after the break with a Dumbrava penalty for an 8-5 lead, but Worcester fought straight back with a text-book try. A line-out from a penalty was well taken and captain Pat Sanderson was on the end of a 20 metre rolling maul to regain control for the visitors. Loki Crichton added the conversion for an 8-12 lead and despite the sluggish style of the game Worcester never looked back. Crichton added penalties on 54 and 68 minutes to put the game out of reach of the home team before the French referee Jerome Gares shocked everybody by blowing up early.
Speaking after the game, Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock said he was pleased with the team's performance. "We knew it was going to rain but it was very cold out there and conditions were difficult under foot," he said. "Although some of the subs had only just gone on there weren't many complaints when he blew up early as the players were freezing. In ideal conditions we'd have loved to have come here and thrown the ball around and run in a few tries but that wasn't going to happen so i'm just pleased that we came away with a win." he said.
Ruddock also paid tribute to the 50 or so Worcester fans who'd make the long trip across Europe to Romania. "They were great and i'd like to say a huge thanks to all of them for making the effort to come over here and give us their support," he said.
Warriors are next in Pool 2 action on Saturday (November 17) when they welcome Montauban to Sixways Stadium (kick-off 3pm) as they gun for a hat-trick of victories in all competitions.
Impressive Montauban won 65-6 in their opening game of the competition against Gran Parma. To make sure you are part of the action call the Warriors Ticket Office today on 0870 990 5650 or visit http://www.wrfc.co.uk/
15. Florin Vlaicu 14. Alexandru Marin 13. Catalin Dascalu 12. Dan Vlad 11. Stefan Ciuntu 10. Dan Dumbrava 9. Ciprian Caplescu 1. Nicolae Nere 2. Bogdan Zebega 3. Mihai Adascalitei 4. Valentin Popirlan 5. Cosmin Ratiu 6. Mihai Macovei 7. Vasile Rus 8. Costica Mersoiu
16. Flavius Dobre 17. Florin Maxim 18. Mihai Lazar 19. Nicolae Rus 20. Daniel Carpo 21. Razvan Bors 22. Gheorghita Bigiu
Worcester Warriors Team
15. Chris Pennell 14. Thinus Delport 13. Mark Tucker 12. Loki Crichton 11. Marcel Garvey 10. Shane Drahm 9. Matt Powell 1. Darren Morris 2. Aleki Lutui 3. Tevita Taumoepeau 4. Phil Murphy 5. Craig Gillies 6. Tom Wood 7. Pat Sanderson 8. Kai Horstmann
16. Matt Mullan 17. Chris Fortey 18. Will Bowley 19. Gavin Quinnell 20. Nick Runciman 21. Joe Carlisle 22. Miles Benjamin
