MIKE Ruddock has challenged his Warriors to back up their impressive LV Cup debut with another victory in his homeland on Saturday.

The Worcester director of rugby was impressed by his side’s 32-6 bonus-point victory over Newcastle Falcons at Sixways on Saturday but insists they must now use it as a launch-pad for a successful run in the competition.

However, things are set to get much more difficult with a trip to Llanelli to play the Scarlets, who will present much stiffer opponents than the much-changed Falcons, looming.

The Warriors chief said: “This result does not change anything for us. We think it’s a great competition.

“It’s a very prestigious competition so we want to do really well. We have a tough assignment on Saturday at the Scarlets. It will be a hard game as they have been playing some good rugby.

“It was a good win for us against Newcastle and I was very pleased. Our form has dipped of late so it was good to see us getting a smile back on our faces.

“It was quite ironic really because our game-plan was to try and get the ball a little wider and not get stuck in too many contact situations, but we won through a number of driving mauls.

“Overall, that was the result of good play generally, winning penalties and being able to bang them in the corner and use that weapon, which is very effective for us.”

Ruddock, however, suggested his priorities remain with the Premiership and he will shuffle his pack for the Scarlets.

He added: “I am going to look at my squad and rest a couple of guys ready for the next round of Premiership games. We have two massive matches which are crucial to us now.

“That is not to devalue the competition if I change people. I need to use my resources in a smart way to make sure we can fight on in three competitions.

“When you get off to a winning start in any competition it does give you an incentive to push on and really do your best to promote the tournament.”

Ruddock rung the changes in the second-half but most of them were tactical and the director of rugby has no new serious injury concerns.

He explained: “Netani Talei had a knock and we will have to wait and see the full report before we know if he is going to be okay for Fiji next week.

“Ryan Powell had a bump on his shoulder but that was more of a stinger and it recovered. We had a look at him at half-time and it was better so he went out for the second period.

“Chris Latham had flu last week and was a little bit tired in the second-half. He wanted to stay on longer but I joked, ‘You might have some input into team tactics from time to time but you certainly don’t decide who comes on and off the field!’ “We got him off and put Calum MacRae on who did really well. Chris had run his race by then on the back of the flu and that keeps him in good form ready for the next couple of weeks.”