Johan Ackermann puts focus on turning around Gloucester's fortunes

21 September 2017 12:24

Head coach Johan Ackermann thinks Worcester will be "desperate" to claim their first Aviva Premiership win of the season at Kingsholm but is purely focused on turning around Gloucester's fortunes.

The Cherry and Whites have lost back-to-back games on the road - 24-10 against Leicester last weekend and a defeat by Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop - and will look to get back to winning ways on their return home.

Worcester, who are yet to record their first win of the season, were mauled 41-10 at home by defending champions and early league leaders Exeter, the only side Gloucester have beaten so far this term.

However, Ackermann places no weight on the opposition and knows the only way to revive Gloucester's fortunes is to "learn and respond".

"We were disappointed with our performance in the last two weeks and we hope to give our supporters a much better performance at home," the Gloucester head coach told the club's official website.

"We must get the whole group to learn quicker and there is no quick fix but then again we have to learn and be able to respond.

"I'm a big believer that we must be able to play anywhere at any time and be able to perform at your standards. I don't want to use 'away from home' as an excuse and I don't like that.

"I don't put too much value on the jersey that you play against. If I say that I respect the opposition that value is high but I don't think that if you play a certain team you must be so much more motivated than the next team.

"They're going to come and they're desperate with all guns firing and will want to change their season as well.

"We're just going to have to look at ourselves and ask 'are we going to play from the first minute instead of waiting for the second half again'."

Worcester are searching for their first point following defeats by Newcastle, Wasps and Exeter, and director of rugby Gary Gold wants a step up in performance.

"For us we want to get some confidence and rewards for our hard work. We need to put in a strong performance and hopefully that can lead to a result," he told warriors.co.uk.

"We know what's coming as Gloucester are also a team who want to play with ball in hand. We will go there with a huge amount of respect for them but I'd really like our guys to step up to the plate.

"There's a lot of character and heart but now we need to be a lot tougher on our errors and be better with ball in hand and what better opportunity than to go down to Kingsholm."

Warriors were given a boost with the news that South Africa scrum-half Francois Hougaard will return to the club next week after time with the Springboks in the Rugby Championship.

"We've had a bit of good news that Francois is going to return," Gold added.

"He'll be back next week and it's a small shining light on the horizon. It's a boost to the squad and the competition with what he brings."

Source: PA