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Worcester Warriors will be looking to maintain their winning start to their Challenge Cup campaign as they travel to face Italian side Zebre. - 18/11/2015 15:13
Worcester Warriors will be looking to maintain their winning start to their Challenge Cup campaign as they travel to face Italian side Zebre.
The Warriors marked their return to European action with a solid 19-3 win over La Rochelle in difficult conditions in week one of the Challenge Cup.
It was the Warriors first game in Europe for two years and they secured the win thanks to four penalties from Ryan Lamb and a late Ben Howard try.
Warriors coach Carl Hogg said: “We’re pleased with our start to the season but we do feel there’s more to come.
“Over the last couple of weeks we’ve identified two or three areas where we would like to see improvement and we’ve explained that to the players.
“Zebre is going to be a tough test, it’s going to be taking our players out of their comfort zone into a different environment and we know we will need to be on our game.”
Zebre went down 23-10 to Gloucester last weekend but, as so often in their domestic competition, they impressed with a fierce defensive effort.
The Italians have already beaten the likes of Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues in the PRO12 this season and Warriors are wary of the strength of the home side.
Hogg added: “We are under no illusions about tough it’s going to be.
“This is another chance for players to impress the coaching staff and stake a claim for places in the Premiership. We know the league is our priority this season but we want to go as far as we can in the Challenge Cup.”
Match Facts
- Zebre have won one of three matches at home in the Challenge Cup, though they’ve never hosted an English side and won.
- Worcester Warriors are undefeated in 12 matches against Italian opponents and not since 2007 have they enjoyed a winning margin of less than 30 points.
- Over their last eight matches against Italian teams the Warriors have averaged a staggering 62 points scored per game, buoyed by a combined 170pts score in their last two such matches against Femi-CZ Rugby Rovigo.
- A third consecutive away loss for Worcester Warriors would be their longest such streak away from home in Challenge Cup history.
Alors que l'on pensait Worcester capable de venir faire un coup en Italie
Zebre won only their third tournament match as they beat Worcester Warriors 27-8 at a rain-swept Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.
The Pool 4 contest was not helped by the conditions but Warriors were never really in the match after the home side made a whirlwind start and international outside half Carlo Canna put the boot in with 17 points.
The Warriors had marked their return to European action with a solid 19-3 win over La Rochelle in week one but now they face tough back-to-back clashes with Premiership rivals Gloucester Rugby when the tournament returns next month.
Zebre, beaten 23-10 at Gloucester Rugby in Round 1, made that dream start in front of their own fans and were 10 points up in as many minutes.
Andrea Manici burst through to set-up scrum-half Marcello Violo to score a fifth minute try and his half back partner Canna added the conversion and a penalty to warn Worcester they had a real challenge on their hands.
And there was even more for Zebre fans to shout about with Tommaso Boni – a late call up in the centre – going over for their second try and, although Canna was wide with his conversion attempt, he made amends with a smart drop goal minutes later.
And with the rain pouring down it took Worcester 22 minutes to open their account with a penalty goal from outside half Ryan Lamb but then back rower Sam Betty was yellow carded to leave the Warriors a man short for 10 minutes against a side with the momentum.
And there was more disappointment for Worcester when Lamb saw his next penalty goal attempt come back off the upright to leave them 18 points adrift at the break.
There was more woe for Worcester when Canna landed a third penalty after a smart break by Giulio Bisegni and both teams concentrated on kicking for territory in the testing conditions.
That contributed to a brief flare up before Canna added another penalty with just 11 minutes to go and the points safely in the Zebre bag.
And Canna leaves to huge support after his 17 points contribution before Worcester enjoy a late, late moment following good work by replacement Derrick Appiah ends with wing Dean Hammond sliding over for a 77th minute try.
Just to sum up Worcester’s dismal afternoon Lamb sees a second of his kicks bounce back off the posts.
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