Assistant Head Coach Nigel Redman praised the spirit and attacking intent of his Warriors as they battled back to secure a 34-18 bonus point win over Scarlets in the LV= Cup.
Second half tries from Ben Howard, Semisi Taulava, Jake Abbott and last minute score from Neil Best saw Warriors claim maximum points at Sixways.
It was not all plain sailing for Warriors, though, as they had to overturn a half time deficit to a spirited Scarlets side who scored through Andy Fenby and Kristian Phillips.
“We had a patchy first half where players were getting used to playing with each other,” admitted Redman.
“The second half I thought we played some good stuff and put together some really good passages of play. Once again we have scored four tries which was a testament to the intent of the players.
“One of our objectives was to score four tries, to pass and put the ball out in front so we could run onto it at pace and power. By the end we had a lot of good examples of that.
“I thought both sides struggled in the first half to get flow going,” he added. “We made some fundamental errors that didn’t help. We had the intent but some of our execution was lacking.
“At half-time we spoke about it and we came out and were far more physical at the breakdown. That was an area that even in August when we played them they contested really hard.
“We needed to get our ball carriers out in front so they gave us targets. We also needed to pass more and I felt that was restricted in the first half. Once we started to play our game and come onto the ball with pace and power I felt we played at tempo and got stronger.”
Redman also praised replacements Andy Goode and Neil Best as they helped turn the tide for Warriors.
He said: “Goodey came on and gave us some life playing at ten with Joe at 12. In fairness, they combine well and they are good mates on and off the field.
“They started to run the game and it allowed us to run off it, we brought our forwards into the game and players like Jake Abbott and Ed Shervington had good games. Chris Jones at the end still going strong and it was great to see him diving on that ball to win the game.
“Neil is one of the game’s characters and is also a wonderful rugby player,” he added.
“To see him coming on and making that sort of impact, particularly as he has had a bad injury this season, was wonderful. He did bring a lot to us and the way we finished that game.”
Redman also dismissed any fears over the half-time substitutions of Nikki Walker and Jon Clarke and revealed they were pre-planned.
“We were always going to take Nikki and Jon off at half-time,” he said. “It was only right that they had 40 minutes, they were long-term substitutions rather than injury related.”
“The second half I thought we played some good stuff and put together some really good passages of play. Once again we have scored four tries which was a testament to the intent of the players…"