Gold puts price on beating drop
GARY GOLD goes into tomorrow’s sweaty-palms relegation shoot-out with Bristol admitting there will be significant consequences for the losers.
Worcester Warriors director of rugby, brought in six weeks ago to try to preserve the club’s Premiership status, saw bottom-placed Bristol pull to within two points with last week’s dramatic 12-11 win over Bath.
“It is a big game, there is no doubt about that, and the consequences are big,” said Gold. “It is another game, though, and we must be careful we don’t get thrown off course.
“There are things this team can do really well and there are things we don’t do well. In a game of this magnitude, where there are opportunities to win because we’re not playing against an unbeatable team, it’s important we have to be ruthless.”
Bristol head coach Mark Tainton said: “I suppose they’ve got to be favourites. But we’re going there with ambition and we’re looking to turn them over.
“We know it’s going to be a massive game. Worcester have been playing very well at home, they’ve got some big scalps there.”
Worcester have a slightly more testing run-in with three of their final five games on the road after this weekend.
Bristol have three home games including winnable fixtures against Gloucester and Newcastle. Whoever does go down will at least do so in the knowledge they will not have to face the Championship play-offs in order to come back up.
From next season, they will be replaced by a first-past-the-post system which should give the promoted club more time to prepare for the top flight.
Championship leaders London Irish, who have already qualified for this season’s play-offs, travel to second-placed Yorkshire Carnegie tomorrow.