The smile on John Brain’s face after Saturday’s rousing EDF Energy Cup victory over Northampton Saints spoke as loudly as the performance he’d just witnessed.
Warriors’ director of rugby praised his much-changed line-up for a street-wise display in which they built confidence alongside a match-winning first-half lead, then resisted the home side’s increasingly desperate efforts to salvage something from the game.
“It’s good to win,” he said afterwards. “In the first half, we played some good controlled rugby. The forwards looked cohesive and 9 and 10 dictated the game very well. In the second, we didn’t, but we showed spirit. A lot of guys did their cause for selection a lot of good.”
Warriors spent seven of the last 15 minutes with just 13 men on the pitch, after Miguel Avramovic and Drew Hickey were both shown yellow by referee Dean Richards. But they met every attack with ferocity and were determined not to concede a point during those tense minutes.
“What impressed me was the guys’ commitment and body language. To not leak a try in that period was very good.”
He reserved particular praise for two-try hero Gavin Quinnell and the impressive open-side James Collins.
“I’ve always believed that Gavin offers us something different,” he said of the 22-year-old Welsh giant, who only took up rugby at 17. “He’s big and strong and can run a ball. So far, no one has bothered to condition him.”
As for the 20-year-old flanker, he was Brain’s man of the match.
“Once again, he was outstanding for us. There was a nice balance in our back row.”
Brain now looks ahead to Saturday’s second Group C match, against Leicester Tigers at Sixways on Saturday, and has promised more changes to the Warriors line-up that started at Franklin’s Gardens.
“The link between what we do this week and next week is to prepare the team for the next Guinness Premiership match,” he added. “We’ll field a different team next week, but it will include players who’ve performed today.
“The guys have done exactly what I wanted them to do. That will be a great video to watch.”