Warriors show their heart for the battle
IF Worcester fans needed reassurance that head coach Jonathan Thomas still has the support of his squad after a chastening five-game losing run, they need look no further than this bonus-point victory over Sale Sharks.
After shipping a gruesome 156 points in their previous three games, Warriors were under pressure to stop the rot and restore pride to the jersey. They achieved that in spades by displaying buckets of heart, commitment, and no small amount of skill.
“I’m just really delighted for the players as it has been a difficult few weeks.” said Thomas.
“There are a lot of great things happening at the club and we have had some real adversity in the last three weeks and our performances haven’t been good enough.
“The players were determined to put it right today.”
Worcester were dealt a blow before kick-off with Scotland and British & Irish Lions loosehead Rory Sutherland succumbing to a side muscle injury.
The loss evidently didn’t disrupt Worcester as they produced an excellent first-half performance to lead 17-7 at the interval.
The impressive Jamie Shillcock was on hand to score Worcester’s first try, crossing after the home side had generated quick ball deep in Sale’s half.
Shillcock’s score was quickly added to by a first Worcester try for Duhan van der Merwe.
The Lions wing dotted down after some good work from Ollie Lawrence in the wide channels.
Thomas was pleased to see star signing Van der Merwe hit his stride and get off and running for his new club after a summer move from Scottish rugby.
“It doesn’t matter how good a player you are, it takes time to settle,”
Thomas said of Van der Merwe. “He is a few games in at a new club and he showed what a world-class player he is today. It was good to see Duhan’s long legs striding out.”
The visitors fought back and registered their first points thanks to a sniping try from scrumhalf Gus Warr.
However, Fin Smith had the final say of the half, slotting his first penalty as the Warriors enjoyed a fine opening 40 minutes.
With confidence undoubtedly low following their run of defeats, it remained to be seen if the home side would continue to take the game to Sale in the second half.
The visitors started in the ascendancy with Rob du Preez sending a penalty on to the righthand post but that was as good as it got for Alex Sanderson’s men.
Star performers, Van der Merwe and Shillcock, again came to the fore as they scored superb tries either side of a try for Sale replacement Curtis Langdon.
First, Shillcock fed the giant wing, who powered through a number of Sale defenders to score a fine try.
Shillcock then displayed a searing turn of pace to scorch over for the hosts as they registered a moraleboosting victory in front of a home support that roared their side to victory in the closing stages.