Ruddock is a coward

[Teh Mite]

Ruddock resigns from Warriors post


Mike Ruddock has quit as Worcester's Director of Rugby following the club's relegation from the Guinness Premiership.

The former Wales coach has spent three season in charge at Sixways - and led the Warriors to the European Challenge Cup final in 2008.

However Ruddock tended his resignation to chairman Cecil Duckworth after the club lost their fight to stay in the top flight.

"As director of rugby I take full responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in. Ultimately our inability to win close games has cost us dearly," said Ruddock.

"I would like to thank the chairman, Cecil Duckworth, for his fantastic support during my time at the club. I am devastated that I have not been able to deliver the success both he and the fans at Sixways deserve.

"I am sure that the squad that has been put together for next season will bounce straight back up and that they will be even stronger for the experience. I truly wish Worcester Warriors every success for the future."

Warriors academy manager Andrew Stanley will take charge of the team for the final league game of the season, while general manager Charlie Little will look after all off field and contractual matters.

And Duckworth has praised the efforts of Ruddock in attempting to keep the club up.

"I have always enjoyed a fantastic relationship with Mike and I would firstly like to thank him for his contribution to Worcester Warriors during his tenure at Sixways," said Duckworth.

"Throughout his time at the club, Mike has always strived to develop an infrastructure that will enable the club to continue to grow and develop an enterprising style of rugby that can be embraced by the coaches and players.

"I would particularly praise him for his tremendous efforts in guiding talented academy players, such as Matt Mullan, Miles Benjamin, Tom Wood and Alex Grove, into the first team and onto international call-ups during his period at Warriors.

"The results this season have been incredibly disappointing and Mike has taken full responsibility for this. We will now look to take the club forward under new leadership. I would like to wish Mike and his family every success in the future.

"Our focus now switches to the search for a successor to Mike Ruddock. With our recruitment of players for next season to add to the current squad I am sure they will guide us back into the Guinness Premiership at the first time of asking."


http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6120729,00.html



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You got them into that **** in the first place Ruddock, your job it to get them out of it. Instead you take the money and run away.

What a tosspot.

 

[Teh Mite]

Ruddock could stand to learn a thing or two from his captain with regards to his attitude:

Worcester captain Pat Sanderson believes the club can come back stronger following their relegation from the Guinness Premiership.

The Warriors will drop down to the Championship for the first time in six years following Sunday's 12-10 defeat against Leeds at Headingley Carnegie in what had been dubbed 'the £1m match' - a measure of the financial impact of survival and relegation.

The visitors looked down and out at 12-0 down after just 25 minutes before launching a desperate fightback thanks to a penalty from fly-half Willie Walker, who was off target with three other attempts at goal, and a try from Alex Grove converted by Matthew Jones.

But it was not to be as Jones fell short with a penalty from 60 metres before seeing his stoppage-time drop goal charged down and cleared at the death.

Sanderson was forced to watch from the sidelines after failing a late fitness test on a shoulder injury and, while revealing the devastation felt by the Warriors' squad and management, he believes Worcester have what it takes to get back among the game's elite.

He said: "It's indescribable really. There's a lot of endeavour and heart gone into this place to get us where we are. This is a hammer blow and it's difficult to take.

"What is most important for me as an individual, for us as a team and my friends in that changing room is how we deal with this.

"We will learn more from relegation than we will in any other way, it's when you are at your lowest that you find out the most about yourself.

"I have no doubt the people in that room will deal with it in the right way and we'll be back."

Sanderson and company will look to draw inspiration from the likes of Northampton and Harlequins, who both bounced back into the top-flight at the first attempt and have gone on to challenge for silverware.

"Of course that is something we can be positive about," said Sanderson. "It's difficult to look past what's just happened because it is very emotional but we have to respond in the right way, deal with it the right way and take every positive we can out of it. We need to reflect on our mistakes and make sure we come back better for this experience. It could be an incredibly big moment of the club in terms of moving forward.

Worcester's relegation will also increase the speculation over the future of rugby director of Mike Ruddock, with several reports over the weekend linking former Gloucester boss Dean Ryan with the top job at Sixways.

Ruddock joined the Warriors in 2007, two years after guiding Wales to a first Six Nations Grand Slam in 27 years.

But he has not been able to improve results after taking over from John Brain and with relegation confirmed Worcester's league placings under the former Swansea boss have been 10th, 11th and now 12th.

But Ruddock refused to be drawn on his future in the immediate aftermath of yesterday's shattering defeat.

"Who knows?" he said when asked about his future. "I will chat with the chairman and see what he thinks.

"We've had a major disappointment and I don't want to talk about those things."

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Confirmed at the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/8643266.stm

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Didn't even stick it out to the end of the season...


I've watched the Warriors academy play a few times, and they're not too shabby, so the coach can't be doing too badly for them.


Wonder how Matt Mullan feels about being relegated, because he was starting to eek his way into the England squad, and i can't see Johnson picking him now, he'll just pick whichever 30yr+ player is propping up the bar at Wasps/Tigers

 

[Teh Mite]

I suspect anyone with hopes of playing for England will be moving on during the off season. That said, Hartley remained a Saxon when Northampton went down, so he may just stick it out and still come good.

Still expect Tigers, Sarries, Saints, Bath and Wasps to all come calling.

 

[munstermuffin]

Yeah Mullan will be ok as well he a good prop and they are rare in UK & Ireland.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Didn't even stick it out to the end of the season...

Since he's leaving, what's the point in sticking around until the end of the season? The last game is a dead rubber so Worcester may as well try to move on with coaches and players who will be there next year.

Rumour has it that Ruddock is moving to Dublin and taking an AIL coaching job. His sons Rhys and Ciaran both play with UCD in AIL 2.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ah yeah, makes sense,
I was just looking at it as he's got them into that mess, then is cutting and running as soon as he's realised it

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Rumours of Dean Ryan taking over at Worcester have been swirling for a long time now. Ruddock quitting merely saw him leave with some dignity rather than being fired. He could have sat it out and received a pay off but instead took responsibility for seeing the club relegated and walked himself.

 

[munstermuffin]

Snoop I doubt he'll go from Worcester to UCD. I think maybe lowest he'll go is AIL 1a and have a nice pay packet.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

You're right, he's taking over at Blackrock.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0501/1224269477729.html


FORMER LEINSTER and Wales coach Mike Ruddock looks set to return to Irish shores next season as head coach of Blackrock College RFC.

Ruddock resigned this week as director of rugby at Worcester Warriors after three seasons in charge following the club's relegation from the English Premiership. He has had two previous coaching spells in Ireland, with Bective Rangers in the 1990s before guiding Leinster from 1997 to 2000.

The high water mark of his coaching career came with the Welsh national team, from March 2004 until February 2006, when they captured the Grand Slam for the first time since 1978.

Married to an Irish woman, Bernadette, Ruddock's two sons Ciarán and Rhys have both declared for Ireland, with Rhys captaining the Ireland under-20s to the Six Nations ***le this season. Rhys is 21 months younger than Ciarán and was born in Dublin in November 1990 when Ruddock was coaching Bective. Both featured for Ireland in the 2009 IRB Junior World Cup and subsequently joined the Leinster Academy.

Ruddock already indicated a desire to bring the family – they also have a teenage daughter – back to Ireland due to his sons' progress with Leinster.

Ruddock hails from Blaina, a small town in north Gwent, where he played before making 119 appearances for Swansea and was capped by Wales A.

He would be replacing Barry Gibney and Emmett Farrell who, after a five-year tenure as senior coaches, saw them achieve their best finish of fourth in Division 1A this season.

Farrell and Gibney will be missed. Farrell is the current Leinster vieo analyst.

 

[munstermuffin]

Any chance he'll have a few Leinster fringe players coming in (like his son's)