Jonathan Thomas hails impact of England star on Worcester debut
Worcester head coach Jonathan Thomas saluted an “exceptional” performance by scrum-half recruit Willi Heinz after the Warriors eased past Gallagher Premiership opponents London Irish.
England international Heinz scored a try on his league debut for Worcester, having arrived alongside more than a dozen newcomers at Sixways this summer.
And the 34-year-old wasted little time making an impact, claiming Worcester’s second touchdown and then creating Worcester’s bonus-point try for number eight Matt Kvesic.
“I thought Willi was exceptional,” Thomas said.
“He is a really experienced player, with his Crusaders background in New Zealand and international rugby. His personality is one that he wants to help people grow.
“He is invaluable to us as a player and as a person.”
Worcester’s 36-24 victory was their first on-pitch Premiership win since beating Irish in November last year, with all of their other league victories last season being coronavirus-related forfeits.
Flanker Sam Lewis, full-back Melani Nanai and wing Perry Humphreys also crossed for Worcester, with Wales international fly-half Owen Williams kicking four conversions and a penalty.
Thomas added: “First and foremost, at the start of a season, a win is very important, and a bonus point is the cherry on the cake.
“It was a start. We are not getting carried away with that at all. There is a huge amount of growth and much more to come as a team.
“Winning is a habit, but losing is a habit, and to break that habit is tougher than you think.
“There is a lot of feelgood factor around the club, but you have still got to win rugby matches, and that is easier said than done.”
Worcester head to the home of Premiership champions Harlequins next weekend and Thomas said: “There is nothing to lose.
“They are champions, no-one is going to expect us to win at The Stoop, but let’s just focus on ourselves. Potentially, we have got an exciting team that is going to grow over time.”
Irish scored tries for wing Ollie Hassell-Collins, number eight Albert Tuisue and a double by substitute prop Ollie Hoskins, but Paddy Jackson had an off-day from the goalkicking tee, landing two conversions, and they never seriously threatened to halt Worcester’s momentum.
They also lost scrum-half Ben White to the sin-bin just before half-time and Worcester posted two tries in his absence.
Irish rugby director Declan Kidney said: “You can see a lot of the good things we did today and the scores we conceded, we can manage those.
“We got four tries and probably left one or two behind.
“It is a great league and there is no place for hiding. Errors are errors and these things happen, but I thought our attitude was spot-on.”
Comments on RugbyPass
One that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
3 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
110 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
1 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
3 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
3 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
110 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
3 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
3 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
110 Go to commentsHas this guy been dope tested? Sounds like a case of “roid rage”.
1 Go to comments