Press Conference Notes 15.12.20

Director of Rugby Alan Solomons spoke to the media today ahead of Saturday’s European Rugby Challenge Cup match against Ospreys at Sixways (kick-off 8.00pm).

Here’s what Alan had to say:

On the performance in Pau

  • It was really disappointing to lose right at the end but the boys did really well.
  • We flew in on the day which was good in some ways as it meant that we weren’t waiting around all day but it meant that we played six hours after landing.
  • The lads acquitted themselves well and managed the game well for most of the time. We had a lot of youngsters in the team and Pau had a very big and heavy pack.
  • But we had a little lapse of judgment when we knocked on late in the game when we should have kept hold of the ball.
  • From the scrum they got a penalty which they kicked to touch and then got another penalty which they kicked to the corner and from that they scored with the final play of the match.
  • It was a sickening to lose like that and the lads were disappointed but our line-out was good and our defence in the maul was also pretty good.

Are you likely to rotate the squad again for Ospreys?

  • There will be some rotation because we want to give players the opportunity to play before we go into the next bloc of Premiership games.

How big a focus are those Premiership games?

  • We are aware of what is coming up but we need to keep our focus on the game we are playing next.

What do you make of Ospreys?

  • I don’t know a lot about them but they do have some good quality players and they are a well-known club.
  • The important thing for us is that we focus on the way we want to play and what we want to get out of the game.
  • We need to perform well for 80 minutes.

Does having players and coaches who have links with Ospreys help you?

  • Having an idea about the way they play is always useful but our main focus is on ourselves.

On media reports that Warriors are interested in Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe

  • That is pure newspaper speculation and something that is not unusual at this time of year.

Injuries

  • Conor Carey went off with a hamstring injury in Pau and is unavailable this week.

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