Press Conference Notes 28.09.20

Director of Rugby Alan Solomons spoke to the media today ahead of Wednesday’s Gallagher Premiership match against Saracens at Sixways and Sunday’s trip to Sale Sharks.

Here’s what Alan had to say:

How welcome has the break been after the win at London Irish?

  • Very welcome because matches had come thick and fast – we played seven between August 15 and September 13.
  • We’ve got back-to-back games again this week so we had a full session today, we’ll have a captain’s run on Tuesday and then we play on Wednesday. We’ll have another captain’s run on Saturday before we play Sale on Sunday.

Are you looking forward to playing Saracens?

  • They are an outstanding club and whatever side they bring will be a first-class team and it will be a big challenge for us.
  • I thought they were very unfortunate on Saturday against Racing 92. They lost Duncan Taylor early on although Dom Morris did really well when he came on.
  • They also lost Brad Barritt and it needed that fantastic kick from Finn Russell to set up the winning try to deny Saracens.
  • But we would like to finish our season strongly.

Sale are pushing for a top four place

  • They are a very powerful side with a strong contingent of Springboks so it will be another tough challenge.
  • We will put out a good side against Saracens on Wednesday and then assess everyone on Thursday before we select for Sale

Saracens have already been relegated but it looks like it might be some time before they play again unless Championship clubs get Government support

  • There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment, not just in rugby but in commerce and in all aspects of life.
  • It’s not just the Championship. The National Leagues and community clubs don’t know when they will be able to play again. Sport across the board and across the world has been similarly affected.
  • The pandemic has created a lot of hardship and there’s not a lot we can do about it until we get a vaccine. With no crowds allowed into grounds at the moment, and possibly for six months, Government support is going to be vital.
  • Sport adds great value to society in many ways particularly the part clubs play in their local communities.

How worried are you about the future of professional rugby?

  • Everyone is in the same boat. We are fortunate that our owners, Colin and Jason, are very hands-on and they communicate well.
  • They are fully committed to Warriors and they met the Sports Minister, Nigel Huddleston who is also a local MP, last week and those discussions were very positive.
  • As a club we are fortunate that we have land at Sixways that can be developed to generate non-matchday revenue and Colin and Jason are working hard on that.
  • But, without crowds some form of assistance from Government is needed

What have you made of the season overall?

  • It has been strange because of the interruption cause by the pandemic.
  • The real positives are that we have had the opportunity to blood a lot of our younger players and that our new coaching team have been able to bleed in their systems.
  • Next season will be action-packed but we won’t be playing seven matches in four weeks as we have done recently.
  • The highest position the club has finished in the Premiership is eighth so I certainly think that next season we should be looking at that and to better it.

How close do you think Ollie Lawrence is to playing for England?

  • We don’t know whether Eddie Jones intends to use the Autumn Internationals to blood some young players.
  • Ollie is up against some quality opposition in the centre – Manu Tuilagi, Jonathan Joseph and Henry Slade to name just three – but Ollie does offer something a little bit different.
  • He’s very motivated and he is getting good advice from the good coaching staff we have here.
  • He works very hard and he is ambitious to represent his country.

Injuries

  • Perry Humphreys is available again so he will come into contention for the first time since the resumption.
  • Sam Lewis has floating bone in an elbow. Wednesday might be a bit soon but we hope he will be fit to play at Sale.
  • Lewis Holsey has dislocated a shoulder in training and will need surgery similar to that undergone by GJ van Velze.

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