Hogg – Warriors must front-up against Munster

Head Coach Carl Hogg insists Warriors must front-up to the physical challenge of Munster A when they face the Irish outfit at Sixways on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Warriors opened their British & Irish Cup campaign with a win at Nottingham last weekend and Hogg knows they will have to be at their best from the off if they are to secure back-to-back wins.

He said: “Their A team looks to be trying to mirror that of the first-team so we’ll expect a set-piece, forward-dominated competition and they’ll play some rugby off the back of it.

“They’ll look to get on the front foot primarily through the forwards but that’s another challenge for this group.

“It will be about fronting that physicality especially in the first 20 minutes.”

The young Warriors that featured at Nottingham last Sunday, have won four out of four in the Aviva A League for Worcester Cavaliers.

And Hogg believes Saturday’s challenge will be different to that of which the Cavaliers have been used to on Monday nights.

He admitted: “There’ll be a couple of changes to give some guys opportunities, especially up front. It will differ from what they’ve experienced on Monday nights.

“This group is about growing over the next nine months and we need to expose players and different parts of their development to a challenging level of rugby and this competition allows that.”

The former Scotland international went on to praise his young players but insists they must get their execution right this weekend.

He explained: “The enthusiasm and the level of endeavour from this young group is fantastic.

“Sometimes we need to be a bit more streetwise in the way we play the game as our execution can put us under pressure.

“But the way we’ve applied ourselves over the last month has been great. The great thing for us they’ve found ways to win even if they haven’t had a great start and that’s a credit to them.”


SIGN UP TO THE WARRIORS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER