Chris Latham's injury appears to not be as serious as originally thought © Getty Images

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Matches: Worcester Warriors 26 - 11 Newcastle Falcons

Teams: England | Newcastle Falcons | Worcester Warriors

Worcester's director of rugby Mike Ruddock admitted he was "mightily relieved" Chris Latham appears not to have sustained a serious injury in his side's 26-11 win over Newcastle.

Latham was helped off with 10 minutes to go but his problem seems to be only bruising and not ligament damage, as first feared. His contribution to the match was outstanding, with a try and some lengthy touch-finding with and creative running.

"He was fantastic, he thoroughly deserved his man of the match award. When we checked him out we were told he would bring a lot of enthusiasm and leadership to us and that's how it's proving," said Ruddock.

On his side's performance Ruddock added, "We probably should have done a little bit better. It was a good win, we were professional but we didn't hit the heights.

"Our defence was excellent but our continuity should have been better. They (Newcastle) never looked like winning the game but they never lay down. There was a certain amount of expectation on us tonight which we are not used to so we weren't relaxed enough.

"It was an expensive night for us in terms of injuries. Chris Fortey has taken a heavy knock on his shoulders and Matthew Jones will need an x-ray on his foot."

Newcastle counterpart Steve Bates accepted his side had no-one to match Latham`s invention. "We played much better than we did last week against London Irish, which was our worse performance of the season," he said. "The turning point of the game came early in the second half. We were pretty competent in the first half but weren't precise enough just after half-time.

"It was a poor kick-off and we gave away a crucial score at a vital time. We battled hard but we made fundamental errors. At this moment in time we lack game-breakers to reward all our hard effort. We have no-one of the class of Latham, he cleared his lines at the back and we didn't have anyone to match.

"We need someone to put momentum on them at the crucial stages in the game."

Newcastle also lost Steve Jones to injury and Bates added, "He has a twisted knee. He will have treatment but it is a worry as we have no-one else at home."