Warriors Academy Manager Chim Gale is urging fans to come to Sixways this Thursday, not just to support his Under 18s side, but to see the next crop of promising young talent in the annual Premiership Rugby Academy Finals Day.
Sixways plays host to Finals Day for the very first time, with Warriors Under 18s kicking off the day against Saracens in the fifth-place play-off at 12.30pm.
And Gale says there will be plenty of talent on show this Thursday.
He said: “We’ll be in front of a home crowd at Sixways so there should be more people here than usual, especially with it being half-term for some of the guys, which means a few friends and family will come along.
“It’ll be a particularly special day for those guys in upper sixth at school or college. It’ll be their last game for Warriors at age-group level and, having been involved in the programme for the past four years, they’ll want to finish on a high.
“Thursday is going to be a great day of rugby and I’d encourage as many people to come and watch – not just to cheer us on but to also see some other exciting young players coming through the system.”
With the Warriors first-team having beaten Saracens on the Sixways pitch last weekend, Gale insists his Under 18s will be looking to play some entertaining rugby to try and pick up a similar result on Thursday.
He revealed: “Sarries have a decent academy and their development model is very good. It will be a good game of rugby with both teams wanting to throw the ball around and play in the right way.”
Wasps and Exeter Chiefs will battle it out for third place on Thursday (kick-off 2.30pm) while Sale Sharks and Harlequins go head-to-head in the final at 4.30pm.
And Gale believes the best sides have earnt their places at the showpiece event.
He continued: “We’ve shown a level of consistency as an academy programme by reaching the fifth-place play-off again this year. We are a bit disappointed we aren’t playing for first place but at the same time you have to give credit to the other teams.
“You always want to win and finish top but the competition is about development too and in the two games we’ve lost we’ve learnt a lot more than we would have if we had have won them.”
Warriors won four from six in the Northern Conference to book a place at Finals Day and Gale paid tribute to fellow coaches Gordon Ross and Mike Hill.
He said: “Gordon clearly has a wealth of experience in professional rugby and that has rubbed off on the players while Mike is a young, emerging coach and brings a lot of energy with his ideas.”
Gale picked out some of Warriors’ star players so far, while also paying tribute to the whole squad after an impressive campaign.
He explained: “Number eight Ted Hill, who is still just 17 and involved with the England Under 20s 6 Nations squad, has led the team well and led by example.
“Centre Ollie Lawrence has stood out as a strong ball-carrier and has got us a lot of front-foot ball, while he has a few subtleties in terms of his handling ability too.
“Our lineout has gone very well thanks to lock James Scott who’s been great in terms of understanding it and the detail of it. Everyone has really stepped up so we’re pleased with how things have gone this season.”
Entry to Finals Day is FREE and gates open at 11.30am.