3/9/01 - First match victory pleases coach Brain

Brain, who was taking charge of his first league game as the Gold'n'Blues boss, watched as his team ripped the Grove Park outfit apart in the opening 24 minutes with some stunning play.

New Australian winger Chris Garrard ran Manchester ragged with a sublime display, bagging four tries in a Worcester performance which, understandably, was punctuated by fragmented early season play.

And Brain believed there was much to build on before next Saturday's derby clash with Birmingham & Solihull at Sixways.

"It was a positive result," he said. "We started very well and were 31-0 up early on. We showed good character in the game where we were on the back foot a bit. Players can think the game is over at that stage and more often than not, it is. However, what we want to do is make sure a 31-point lead becomes a 41, 51, 61 point lead.

"The mood in the dressing room though is very positive. It is tinged with a bit of disappointment that we didn't go on but, it's early days and it's a good start for the team."

Manchester employed a damage limitation approach after Worcester's lightning start which meant regular penalties and plenty of stoppages. The second half was also blighted by brawls and a sickening tackle on Duncan Roke which saw the player taken to hospital after being knocked out.

However, the former Gloucester number two was philosophical about the bad tempered affair that spoilt the game as a spectacle for Sixways supporters.

"It looked like a very high tackle. These things happen in the game, although no-one likes to see it. My initial reaction was that is was a penalty, but I couldn't see any malicious intent.

"Duncan's gone off in an ambulance and I think it will be a concussive incident which will mean he has three weeks off.

"A lot of what went on in the second-half is what we could face week in, week out in this league. We have to rise above it and concentrate on our own game."