Thomas backs Warriors to prevail - The Worcester Observer

Thomas backs Warriors to prevail

Worcester Editorial 20th May, 2015 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

FORMER Wales international Jonathan Thomas has warned Bristol that Worcester Warriors have got a few surprises up their sleeves for the play-off final.

Worcester have already suffered two defeats to their promotion rivals this season, which has made Andy Robinson’s men slight favourites heading into the first leg at Ashton Gate tonight (Wednesday).

Thomas also admitted their opponents had more experience in their side with the likes of British & Irish Lions Gavin Henson and Dwayne Peel.

However, the lock believed Warriors also had quality through their team which can cause Bristol problems over the two legs.




“They are going to be a dangerous team with guys like Matthew Morgan and Gavin Henson are both world class on their day,” he said.

“But I have been really impressed by the way we have performed this year.


“I think we can create real danger in the backline and I think the way we have performed up front as we showed against Scottish in the set piece which was outstanding.

“Any game of rugby is about doing the basics well. We need to make sure that our set piece is good, our defence is good and the good thing about our attack this year is that we have got plenty of options.

“We are not a one-dimensional team as we have got the ability to keep it tight or go wide, so we have some things up our sleeves which we feel we can exploit Bristol with.”

Both Thomas and Cooper Vuna saw yellow against Bristol last month as Worcester surrendered a 23-10 lead at Sixways to lose 30-26.

But the 32-year-old insisted they had learnt their lessons and would be able to react to whatever Bristol threw at them.

“In any game of rugby, whether you are watching European Cups or World Cups, at this stage of the tournament discipline is really important,” he added.

“But at the same time these things happen through accidents or through referees interpretation and you have got to overcome that.

“We might be faced with someone getting a yellow card or getting injured, but you can’t dwell too much on what happens.

“Yes, you have to make sure it does not happen, but if it does it is all about strategy and how you overcome those to essentially still win the game.

“We have gone through a lot of challenges this year where we have learnt a lot about ourselves and I think that will help us.”

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