Cox – Everyone is hungry for action

Back-row Matt Cox insists the whole Warriors squad is hungry for match action.

And following wins for the first-team against Moseley last Saturday and the Cavaliers on Monday night, the former Gloucester man believes there are no guaranteed places for anyone in the team.

He said: “We’re in a healthy environment right now as we’ve got a young group and everyone wants to play.

“You could see on Monday night when the Cavaliers beat Gloucester that these young boys are hungry and they’ve really made a claim for first-team recognition.

“I played with some of the Gloucester lads last season and they’ve got some good players but they didn’t have an answer for how confrontational Worcester were with the defence and line-speed. They had little attack and the Cavaliers dominated.”

And Cox, in his second spell at Sixways, believes it is an imperative learning curve for the youngsters to get first-team game-time, something which Director of Rugby Dean Ryan wants to expose them to throughout the season.

He continued: “It’s not just about the short-term in trying to get back into the Premiership, it’s about the future and giving these young guys chances.

“Christian Scotland-Williamson is a young lad with a big frame who is getting his first proper exposure to rugby after university and he’s learning all the time.

“Mike Daniels, who is living with me at the moment, is another. He’s a decent prop that’s coming along and Tiff Eden took his chance in a friendly against Sale. These guys have a big future.”

Warriors take on Doncaster Knights at Castle Park this Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm) and Cox believes his side need to stick to their structures to be successful.

He added: “From last weekend, we need to learn that we can’t rush our chances. We have to take control, stick to structures and not think about looking for that million-dollar pass to win a game.

“The analysis is different to what it was in the Premiership. You can go back weeks and study teams whereas you can’t necessarily do that in the Championship.

“Doncaster will be motivated after two wins. We’ve picked out some go-to players and if we can understand some of those guys and target them we can cut them out and diffuse any attack they have.

“We need to stick to what we’re good at whilst taking on what we did against Moseley.”
 


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