JT so proud of his Warriors

Head Coach Jonathan Thomas said he was proud with the effort of his players after Warriors were edged out 35-32 by Sale Sharks in Saturday’s thrilling Gallagher Premiership match at Sixways.

Warriors came close to toppling play-offs-chasing Sale but had to settle for two bonus points with scrum-half Francois Hougaard scoring three of the four tries.

But, after three successive defeats, Thomas was delighted with the way that his players fought to the very end against a big and powerful Sale side.

“Sport can be cruel at times. We scored some good tries and there was nothing between the two teams,” Thomas said.

“There were a few key momentum swings in the second half which went against us but I am really proud of the players and the effort they put in.

“If you look at the spine of that team it was full of young homegrown Worcester players. Fin Smith, an 18-year-old, at fly-half, Ted Hill, our captain, is 22, Jamie Shillcock, Andrew Kitchener and Alex Hearle on the wing.

“It’s tough for the club at the moment and it’s tough to continue losing games but the players put in a heroic performance today and there is huge growth and learning opportunities for those young players who played today.

“I’m not sure how many tackles Fin Smith made but he had a lot of big men running down his channel. For an 18-year-old outside half I thought his defence was superb as well his game control for a young man.

“As I say, I am really proud of the efforts of the players. That is what we spoke about during the week. The supporters of this club – and the supporters of any club for that matter – just want to see their players wear the jersey with pride and that is 100 per cent what the players did today.”

Warriors are next in action against defending champions Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Saturday May 8 but the players will be training as normal during the coming week.

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