HEAD coach Carl Hogg insists Worcester Warriors’ friendly against Munster at Sixways tomorrow night will give a “true” indication of where they are ahead of the new season (7.30pm).

Warriors thrashed Championship side Hartpury 55-21 before suffering a shock 24-15 defeat at National One outfit Birmingham Moseley last Friday.

Although unhappy with his team’s performance at Billesley Common Hogg believes he and director of rugby Gary Gold will find out more about their squad when they take on the Irish giants in their final pre-season friendly.

Warriors begin their Aviva Premiership campaign on Friday, September 1, at Newcastle Falcons.

“I think the Munster match will be a huge step up,” Hogg said.

“Obviously the loss against Moseley was disappointing but Munster will give us a true test to see where we are and how we are travelling in pre-season.”

Hogg criticised his players for failing to get “the basics” right in their loss at Moseley who scored three converted tries against their higher-ranked opponents.

The ex-Gloucester forward coach insisted there were “no excuses” for their showing but hoped it would be a learning curve for his players.

“It was disappointing but when you sit down and reflect on it it’s about getting the basics of the game right,” Hogg said.

“Whether that’s our set-piece, ball retention or discipline we weren’t great and we have got to learn fast.

“We took one or two knocks (against Hartpury) so we changed the side as it was slightly younger (at Moseley).

“But there are no excuses as that group needs to be better at the basics.”

Hogg said he was also keen to see Warriors sharpen up their set-piece as he felt their scrum struggled in both pre-season games.

“We have got to look at our scrum,” Hogg added.

“Obviously the scrum engagement sequence has changed and we have got to look at how we adapt better to it.

“We struggled with the speed of the engagement and then keeping pressure after the hit.

“That’s something we will look at over the next couple of weeks.”