Heinz aims to end ‘years of Worcester heartache’ after sparkling debut belies pre-match nerves
Willi Heinz feels Worcester are the perfect club to “manage” his wellworn, battered body, and ensure he is able to flourish in the twilight of his playing days.
The 34-year-old showed there is plenty of life left in the old legs when shrugging off nerves and impressing his new supporters with a sparkling try-scoring display. The scrum-half appears to be just the calming and controlling influence the club need.
Heinz was enlisted from Gloucester during the summer with the view that his wise head and physical prowess could add plenty to a team brooding after finishing bottom by a distance last season. So, a bonuspoint victory over London Irish on the opening day was certainly what was needed.
Heinz won the last of his 13 Test caps 18 months ago and he would not have been high on Eddie Jones’s watch-list when the England coach ran his eye over some more youthful members of his recent training squad – in the shape of Ollie Lawrence, Ollie Hassell-collins and Tom Parton – on Saturday.
Heinz said: “It was a big change to come here. I have only played for a couple of clubs in my career, back home at the Crusaders and over here at Gloucester. I was a bit nervous coming in and it was certainly a bit strange for the first couple of weeks being in a new environment with a whole new squad.
“But they have been so welcoming. The boys have been awesome and the medical and management staff have been brilliant in terms of managing and looking after me in the off-season. They made sure I got to game one with the body in a good place.
“When you are at the tender age of 34 you don’t do a great deal of training. I do enough, but that was the longest I have gone in pre-season, 55 minutes, so I was getting pretty tired.”
He added: “The club have been through some heartache the last couple of years and hopefully we can slowly build our way into the season and start playing a brand of rugby that is difficult to play against.”
Declan Kidney hopes his Irish players can put their miserable first outing behind them and bounce back at home to Sale Sharks. The director of rugby admitted: “It was frustrating and disappointing in equal measure. But it’s a great league and we have Sale next, so there’s no place for hiding.”