Ruddock frustrated after loss

Ruddock: Left frustrated

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Worcester boss Mike Ruddock spoke of his frustration after his side went down 21-13 to Northampton Saints in their Guinness Premiership opener on Sunday.

The Saints marched to victory at Franklin's Gardens after running in second-half tries from Dylan Hartley and Jon Clarke.

Aleki Lutui scored a late try for the visitors to reduce the deficit but Saints added a third penalty soon afterwards to run out deserved winners.

Ruddock admitted afterwards that he was "hugely frustrated" by his side's performance.

Didn't play

He said: "We didn't really play.

"Northampton pressured us in the lineout, poured through and made things difficult for us. In the tackle too, they put a lot of pressure on us.

"We gave away a lot of penalties and we need to look at that closely. Obviously I've got some concerns over the interpretation of the directive at the tackle area.

"But, in fairness, Saints deserved the victory," said Ruddock, who also believed that the sin-binning of flanker Tom Wood just before Hartley's try had been "significant".

Skipper Pat Sanderson missed the game with a torn quad muscle and Ruddock expects that the influential former England flanker will also be absent for next Sunday's visit to champions Wasps.

"Hopefully he'll be back for the home game against Leicester the week after. It's going to take a week or two to heal," he said.