Worcester Warriors head coach Jonathan Thomas

Jonathan Thomas interview – I hate losing, but it’s vital part of winning process

Jonathan Thomas tells how he intends to turn the Warriors ship around

Jonathan Thomas could be forgiven for questioning himself when he looks at the table and sees Bristol, the club he left last year, at the top and , where he is now the head coach, at the bottom. But it only hardens the former Wales forward's resolve to turn the Warriors from a team where survival has been regarded as success into one that is a regular in the Champions Cup.

Worcester have spent 15 seasons in the Premiership since first winning promotion in 2004, more than the current top two, Bristol and Exeter, but they are the only one of the 13 Premiership Rugby shareholders which have yet to take part in the Champions Cup. They have twice been relegated from the top flight and their average position is 10th with a highest finish of eighth in 2005-06.

“Worcester is a club whose potential is unfulfilled,” said Thomas, at 38 the youngest head coach in the Premiership who was born in the same month as Gloucester's George Skivington and five weeks after ' Lee Blackett. “A few of my mates keep asking me why I left Bristol and it comes down to your motivation and ambition. The easiest thing would have been to stay there for five years and I would have continued to enjoy it, but I have an appetite to make a real difference.

“It is about having the chance to grow something and develop a team so that when you look back in your later years, you can be proud of the impact you and the people around you made and the legacy that was left. It is not about picking up a pay cheque.

“I am really ambitious and am prepared to take risks. I am aware that no one has succeeded here in the Premiership even though they all started with the same hopes and that I am putting my neck on the line. I am not afraid. I believe in myself and what you can achieve if you bring in the right people.”

Worcester went into yesterday's match at on a 13-match losing run. Their two ‘victories' since the opening day success against came through the Covidcancelled matches against Quins and Newcastle, but they have taken a bonus point off each of the top three with Exeter and Bristol both relieved in recent months to escape from Sixways with victory.

“Is it pleasant being on the bottom and on a long losing streak?” asked Thomas, who finished his playing career in 2015 after two seasons with Worcester. “Hell, no. I hate losing and want to win more than anyone, but there is a process you have to follow to get to where you want to. It does not happen overnight and I am really confident about the direction in which we are heading. We are not as bad as people think: six of the defeats came in tight matches which we should have won and I feel for the players because they are putting in the work. What gives me heart is that I went though this in my playing career four times and always came through it.”

One that is indelibly imprinted on Thomas came in 2003, the year he won the first of his 67 Wales caps. Wales were coached then by Steve Hansen, the New Zealander who went on to win two World Cups with the , and were whitewashed in the during a ten-match losing run which prompted the Union to warn that one more would be his last even though the World Cup was by then weeks away.

“There was a real negativity around the team in the media but Steve stuck with a group of young players he knew were the future,” said Thomas. “It was really challenging, but he always insisted that the team would be successful and that he believed in us. He knew he would be proved right because he had laid solid foundations and two years later we won the Grand Slam.

“The great coaches are the ones whose voices you can still hear in your head and I remember 2003 as if it were yesterday, Steve shouting on the field to instil good habits and hard work. He had a massive influence on me as a young player.”

Thomas arrived at Worcester last summer as forwards coach, the position he had held at Bristol since 2016. He was appointed head coach at the turn of the year with the director of rugby Alan Solomons moving into the background to oversee recruitment and liaise with the owners. The succession was planned, but Thomas thought it would occur next year.

“When I was first approached by Worcester, I did not think about moving because I was so happy at Bristol,” said Thomas. “I had a few more meetings with Solly and the owners and they sold the club to me. When I joined, we were on a losing streak (eight matches), but I had done my due diligence and it was a job that appealed to me. I walked in with my eyes wide open and knew it would be tough for a year with a number of players coming off contract, although when I agreed to joined no one knew that Covid-19 was around the corner, but I did not anticipate becoming head coach so soon.

“Solly was a big reason I came here, someone who was bold enough to give youngsters an opportunity and a top bloke who is a big help to me. At the start of January he and the owners spoke to me and said why wait to become head coach. Results may not indicate progress and the supporters are disappointed, but they should keep the faith because the future looks exciting. The league table tells you where you are at and we have to own that as a club. It shows we are not good enough – at the moment.

Long-term vision: line-up before their match against Harlequins at the Stoop. Steve Bardens/Getty Images for Harlequins

“Speaking to fans and people who have been here a long time, the one thing that struck me was the lack of a strong identity in terms of how we play. It is no one's fault but a consequence of the high turnover of players and coaches with no one in a job for more than three years. Compare that to Exeter. People talk about consistency, but you will never achieve it if you are changing coaches all the time. We intend to create a really strong Worcester identity based on the supply of talented young players who come through our academy: no club has supplied more players to the England Under-20s in recent years than us.”

The suspension of relegation this season has given Thomas and his coaching team more time to prepare for the future. “Of course that is useful,” said Thomas, “like Sarries automatically going down was for Leicester last season and look at the improvements they have made.

“We would still have been bold and given youngsters opportunities because this is all about our long-term vision. There is nothing to be gained in making decisions for the short-term because any improvement would be superficial. The last thing you want is to be battling against relegation for the next ten years. Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward.

“We have recruited some experience for next season in Willi Heinz, Scott Baldwin and Duhan van der Merwe, with a few more to follow, and they will help the young talent we have in the likes of Ted Hill, Ollie Lawrence and Finn Smith. A priority is to bring in a top strength and conditioning coach having learned from Warren Gatland just how vital that is. Because this club has never experienced success, there is a danger you feel like victims and settle for mediocrity. We have told the players this is not the old Worcester and that they should think like winners even if we are not winning.

“I learned more in my two years here as a player than in my successful times in Wales. Adversity does that to you. You appreciate there is no magic wand or short cut. Coaching is like building a house: without solid foundations, it will collapse. It comes down to time and patience.”