DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan believes Andy Symons is pushing his case for a starting jersey as he looks to find the cutting-edge needed to keep Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership.
There was little between Worcester and Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park before the talented centre produced a superb run to set up Josh Drauniniu for Warriors’ match-winning try.
And Ryan said he was impressed by Symons’ ability to cut teams open and he felt he was putting his hand up every time he featured for the club.
“Andy has been robbed of a couple of opportunities because of injury, but he seems to find space in every game he plays for us,” Ryan said.
“He can open people up and he is making a decent claim for selection. There is definitely a case being built.”
Meanwhile, Ryan said he was confident David Lemi would be back in contention for Warriors’ next league clash against Exeter Chiefs on Saturday.
The Samoan wing was forced to pull out of Worcester’s match at Newcastle at the 11th hour after he failed to recover from a hamstring problem, but Ryan believed academy ace Max Stelling produced another strong showing in Lemi’s absence.
“It was a bit of a gamble to play Max in what was a really important game for us, but I was really pleased with him,” Ryan added.
“I felt it was key that we kept true to what we want to do here, so if a young man is the next man off the block then you put him in and you back him and I believe that was another enormous step forward for Max.
“Irrespective of whether Dai (Lemi) is back or not, we have been able to show that people, like Dean Hammond and Max Stelling, are able to do a job.”