Richards’ Reaction – London Welsh
Having seen his side defeat the bottom club by six tries to one the director of rugby was quick to praise how his players performed in a game played in tricky conditions with a weight of expectation heaped upon his team.
“This was one of those days where an upset was going to be on the cards, and you only have to look at Sale, Harlequins and Gloucester this weekend to show what can happen. With the weather the way it was there was every potential for it, and we had to stick to our guns.”
“The players did that as well as playing with a bit of ambition, and that ambition reaped six tries with some good ones in there as well.”
With a strong, swirling wind in evidence throughout the game, Fly Half Tom Catterick kicked commendably well, converting four of his team’s five pointers, including his own, and was one of a number of players to be mentioned post match by the DOR.
“I thought the accuracy of our kicking was pretty good considering the strength of the wind but we also have got people who are there to challenge defences with ball in hand.”
“I thought Sinoti Sinoti and Juan Pablo Socino did that, as did Tom while Chris Harris and Alesana Tuilagi did it from the bench, and when your back-line asks that many questions you are going to score tries.”
With much of the pre match build up seeing the outside world focused on the relegation implications of the game, Richards himself insists that had been far from his mind.
“I have never looked at it and I never do. You have to look up and challenge yourself. In some respects I felt very sorry for them [Welsh]. They have got some good players and runners, Opeti Fonua at No 8 challenged us physically at times, and Nick Scott on the wing also played well.”
“With us having been down there last season I know what it is like, and it is a difficult time for them. These things can change very quickly as we have seen before in sport, but it is obviously going to be very difficult for them now.”
