Right from the off the key clash was meant to be between our young guns and the Sale talent, but we were certainly caught sleeping and it took 17 minutes for Shillcock to shine, sadly followed by a missed conversion by Lamb.
Shillcock announced his arrival to senior rugby against Bath following Humphreys putting on a performance against Glaws the week before. Watching them yesterday you would think they were both seasoned professionals.
This is a very exciting time for Worcester Warriors fans.
Who won the key battle?
I think Perry won this hands down. Having seen Odogwu in a Cavs game before I know what he is capable of and he did not show this yesterday. Perry ran well, defended well, scored yet another try and took yet another step to claiming a first team shirt for the foreseeable future.
The forwards were once again outstanding. Line out and scrum functioned all the way through until the last few minutes. Schonert, Annett and Ruskin, for 60 minutes didn't really put a foot wrong. We really do need to announce soon that Val has signed a new contract, what a player! Who next month qualifies for England. If he keeps playing like this I can see him certainly getting a Saxons call up, if not an elite cap.
DOC & Barry controlled every aspect of their game, though boy band wannabe DOC did seem to spend a lot of time sorting his newly grown locks and getting them out of his face.
I am a massive fan of GJ and I think he does his job impeccably but on his 250th Premiership appearance I can see why the growing call from fans is for Phil to not only start every week but lead the team.
Alfie is rapidly becoming a fans favourite. Not only did he continue his barn storming runs, he didn't get any red cards whenever he raised his arm whilst carrying the ball.
I may have mentioned before that we are missing a certain Francois Hougaard, the man that seems to have the ability to turn us from losers into winners. Jonny Arr had a great game. Still a bit slower at the breakdown than I would like but was steady as ever. Another surprise package for me is Luke Baldwin. I will be honest, when I watched him play for Bristol I was never that impressed, but game on game he is playing very well. Tends to up the pace without throwing risky passes or making rash decisions. Maybe it is time for him to get a start ahead of Hougaard's return.
Is it really that hard to say to Ryan Lamb - Play at 10, use your skills to control the game and open up defences BUT pass the ball to others when it comes to kicking from the tee?
Any player with season statistics of:
Should not be sending Tweets like this, immediately after a game that could be described as lost due to missed kicks:
Facebook and Twitter covered this enough, but it is fair to say that I only read 3 respondents (1 from a Sale fan who actually tweeted that we should get rid of Lamb) that tried to defend his comments in any way.
Having read a few articles on the game it was clear that we are making progress, but that only making 54% of kicks could be the difference between staying up and looking up or fighting for survival.
Mr Hogg has also alluded to the problem that is Ryan Lamb
The man can play, he can score and he can make the difference between a win and a loss - the problem is he can make that difference in positive and negative ways in the same game!
One thing I must say (an would have before Tweetgate) Congratulations on hitting 1,000 Premiership points.
If we just increased our kick percentage to 80% this season then we would be in 7th place not 11th and have 9 points not 5.
What can I say about the backs? Is astonishing to strong a word?
I really do love what I am seeing. From my pre-season tip for player of the season Olivier to our new young stars Humphreys and Shillcock to a man they are firing. We expected big performances on our nice new pitch, but considering we are yet to see Hougaard, Heem or Pennell on plastic, other than as a water boy, I think have have been given a treat so far.
Mr Vesty has made a point of letting the players "play what they see" and not just stick to the coached moves and it seems to be working. My only fear is that playing what they see does tend to mean that we have nobody at full back during attacks and we could be at risk when playing teams like Wasps with pace to burn and solid accurate kickers.
In normal terms the season has not started well: loss, draw, loss & draw but watching the games means it feels more like: smashed, cheated, busted & robbed. To come away from 2 draws feeling like we "should" have won, even more so should have had a 5 pointer - that to me is progress.
Next week is Falcons - our first "Must Win" of the season. At home, we are in form and scoring points. They are doing well and getting wins to our draws but they are not scoring, so Shillcock, Coops and Humphreys get your running boots and and lets get that illusive win.
As a final note, since when does anybody have to survey the entire fan base to convey the sentiment to our players that we are fully behind them?
Come On You Warriors!
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