Saracens coach Alex Sanderson heaped praise on Joel Tomkins after the debutant scored two tries on his debut against Worcester.
Saracens forwards coach says rugby league convert has bright future
Saracens coach Alex Sanderson heaped praise on Joel Tomkins after the debutant scored two tries on his debut against Worcester.
The former rugby league player crossed twice in five second-half minutes as Saracens secured a 41-14 victory over the Warriors in the LV= Cup.
Although Saracens may still be heading out of the competition despite the win, forwards coach Sanderson had plenty of positives to take from the display, not least Tomkins' instant impact.
"Joel is an intelligent rugby player, and the more he plays, and the more he gets on the field, the better he will become," he said.
"His core skills are second to none, as you would expect from a rugby league player, and the way he took his chances in the final quarter of the game, when a debutant coming from league might be forgiven had he drifted out of the game, was impressive.
"We have big hopes for Joel in the future because he is a very talented lad."
Sanderson also hailed the efforts of the other youngsters on show and the performances of Kameli Ratuvou and Michael Tagicakibau, who were both returning to senior action following long injury lay-offs.
Delighted
He added: "I am delighted for the young players who have waited patiently for a chance and took it, and for the lads coming back from injuries and anxious to show they are ready.
"There was hard work and huge effort put into that game, we had to fight back and did so very well in the last quarter.
"There were glimpses there of what's in store for us in terms of the younger boys, and when you add the priceless experience of John Smit and Peter Stringer, you have the necessary base on which to build for the future."
Worcester coach Phil Davies admitted that his team collapsed in the final quarter of the match having until that point looked capable of a earning a deserved win.
"We were winning into the second half, and worth our lead. But then the accuracy faded, and we paid a hefty price for not doing the job over 80 minutes," Davies said.
"Give credit to Saracens who scored some very good tries. But we had control, we had the lead and we didn't maintain our accuracy in the final 20 minutes.
"I was delighted with Tom Arscott's try which was born of good defence, and a very good team try. I give credit to us for an hour, but not for the last quarter."
