Worcester skipper adamant things now on the up under Solomons
LISTENING to inspirational Worcester captain GJ van Velze speak you’d have no reason to doubt his conviction that the Warriors are a club on the way up not down.
The South African’s upbeat tone rides in the face of public opinion which has long had Worcester marked down as relegation favourites.
While two points from the first two games has done little to assuage the doom mongers, van Velze defiantly predicts his squad can create history and become a top-six side under Alan Solomons.
“We’re a club that is, 100 per cent, going up. It is easy to point the finger at Worcester because of our history, but we are here to change that,” said Van Velze, who has a Premiership winner’s medal from his time at Northampton.
“We’ve got an unbelievable squad. We’ve added more quality and I think it is the most competitive squad we’ve had since I have been here.
“That doesn’t guarantee a result, but you just need to continue rocking up every day and doing your job. It is a very competitive league and we know what our shortfalls are and what we need to work on.”
In the first two Premiership rounds Worcester have done a passable impression of ‘keep-ball’ experts Exeter in retaining possession for long periods (over 20 minutes on average) and have made more passes and won the most rucks but have also scored the fewest points.
Despite having attacking players of the calibre of Josh Adams, Bryce Heem, Chris Pennell and Ben Te’o, Worcester still find it hard to put teams away.
“It is a game of tight margins in the Premiership, you are lucky to get three or four opportunities to score,” acknowledges Van Velze, who is in his fourth season at Sixways. “In the Wasps game we had four and didn’t finish any and against Sale we made hard work for ourselves by going into half-time 18-0 down without converting anything.
“It is not something we are losing any sleep over, it is something in our control. Ultimately, we have been very inconsistent over the past two seasons.”
After spending a year out of the game in 2016/17 due to a serious head injury, Van Velze is appreciating every opportunity to play.
Emotionally-charged, he leads the team not only in spirit but also in action, carrying more ball than any of his team-mates, and is consistently striving to get better at his game.
“I am the wrong side of 30 now and my time as a professional player is limited. You cannot take any of it for granted,” he says.
“If you’ve played professionally for as long as I have it is difficult to change and your body fights against it, but you have to otherwise you stagnate. It is common to see players who are very good in season one and two, but then not hear about them in season three because people have worked them out.
“I am definitely leaner and fitter than before the concussion thing, but there are still things I can work on. For me, that’s my acceleration and speed work.”
Van Velze has plenty of practice in that regard, chasing after sheep on his farm, a hobby that has turned into a full-on business.
“I was out in the fields on Monday night trying to move ewes and they still stepped and ran over me. If I catch one I know I’m going to be fine for the weekend.”