Centre Alex Grove was singled out for praise by Head Coach Richard Hill after the 22-19 defeat to league leaders Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop in the Aviva Premiership.
Scotland international midfielder Grove celebrated his 25th birthday in ice cold conditions in the capital.
And the former Academy graduate produced an impressive display – that was capped off by a superb slicing to set up a try for Errie Claassens – that was praised by Hill.
Hill said: “We had a good long chat about his game and certain things we wanted him to work on.
“He put that into practice and I was really, really pleased with him. He was straightening the line and stepping off his foot and attacking straight. He was a different threat altogether.
“That is the best game I have seen him play in attack. There were certain parts where he looked very dangerous and made line breaks.”
Hill was left delighted by the try-scoring return of David Lemi as the Samoa captain made his comeback from international duty with a third minute try.
“Because defences are so good these days you need someone who can unlock them, it’s very rare you can score a lovely manufactured try,” revealed Hill.
“It often comes from a flash of brilliance and a line break – David Lemi can score out of nothing. If you had two or three more like that you would have a good team.
And the Sixways chief also backed prop Euan Murray as he was pitched in the deep end at Quins when John Andress was forced off with a leg injury in the first half.
“John has a sore knee. He was landed on and he couldn’t weight bear on it so James Percival told him get off because we had Euan Murray on the bench. I genuinely don’t know what he has done yet, we will have to wait and see how serious that is,” he concluded.
“We pitched Euan in at the deep end. He hardly knows the players and certainly doesn’t know the calls and the way we try and play.
“He has been thrown in, but it was good for him to get 40 minutes and we will look to see him get better and better in the coming weeks.”
“That is the best game I have seen him (Grove) play in attack. There were certain parts where he looked very dangerous and made line breaks…"