Gloucester facing a pair of grand finals – Ludlow
LEWIS Ludlow accepts it is knockout rugby from here on in if Gloucester Rugby want to climb into the play-offs places in the Gallagher Premiership.
Following the club’s exit from the European Challenge Cup in the quarter-finals, going down 44-15 to Saracens at Kingsholm, skipper Ludlow says his Cherry & Whites squad are already talking about “righting some wrongs” when they face last season’s league champions Harlequins and then Saracens again in the final two rounds of the regular season.
As things stand, Gloucester sit fifth in the Premiership table, a point behind fourth-placed Northampton Saints, who play against secondplaced Saracens next and then finish with Newcastle at Franklin’s Gardens.
Ludlow said: “There are two games left, and if we win those it looks like we’re in the top four.
“They are two grand finals for us, the big one at Twickenham (against Harlequins), and you can’t not get up for that, can you? And Saracens back here, well we have to right some wrongs there and get that right.”
Despite coming a distant second to Saracens in Europe on Friday night, Ludlow said the fact their remaining matches come against two of the best sides in the league is irrelevant.
He said: “You’re going to have to play them sometime, if you want to win you’ve got to beat everyone. We’ve beaten Sarries before and Quins narrowly beat us at Kingsholm.
“Twickenham is a neutral ground, no home advantage, so we can get there and I’m sure there’ll be loads of Gloucester fans and we can have a good one up there.”
Despite tries from Jack Singleton and Louis Rees-Zammit on Friday, scores from Aled Davies, Maro Itoje, Nick Tompkins, Jamie George and Duncan Taylor saw the visitors overcome the Cherry & Whites.
Reflecting on the cup loss, Ludlow said: “I am probably more frustrated that we didn’t play our game. We’ve got such a solid game plan now that we understand and all know.
“Credit to Saracens, they stopped us from imposing that and it’s for us now as a young leadership group, young half-back group, how we learn from that. There’s going to be times in games against quality sides where we need to work to impose our game plan.”
■ Worcester’s cancelled fixture against Gloucester Rugby in March could cost the club more than just five league points, as the Cherry & Whites have confirmed they will seek financial compensation.
The Warriors pulled out of the game after they were unable to field the required six match-squad frontrowers. The panel’s decision was Gloucester were awarded a match result of 20-0 and fie league points.
Now CEO Lance Bradley has released a statement outlining the Kingsholm club’s intent. He said: “The impact of Worcester’s decision to cancel the match was significant across the club and amongst both sets of fans, not least due to doing so within only a few hours of the scheduled kick-off; all of which resulted in significant financial loss for the club.”