ANDY Keast praised Worcester Rugby Club captain Werner Swanepoel following his successful return from injury.

The Sixways skipper has been out for a month with a knee problem but came on during the 59-24 win over Henley and impressed.

"Werner made a big impact when he came on in that second half," said Keast. "Everyone knows what he's about. Smiley is a very enthusiastic person and he transfers that to the field. People pick up on that energy and he lifted the tempo when we needed it because Henley had just scored two quick tries.

"We were in a bit of a hole at that moment and it's not surprising that he helped us out of that. That's what we asked him to do and we're delighted he did. It's great to have him back."

Worcester went to the top of National One courtesy of Pertemps Bees' 20-13 defeat at Orrell and Keast was pleased with the style on show as the Warriors swept Henley away.

"We had a very good first half," he said. "We had a bit of a sticky period at the start of the second but came out of that well in the end. I don't like to isolate players but I thought Tommy Hayes was instrumental in our win. He kicked seven conversations but his play around the park was outstanding.

"He's proving to be a very big player for us and he's growing now week by week. We let in some soft tries and that takes some of the icing off the cake but we have to give Henley credit because they came to Worcester to be positive and they continued in that vein up until the 80th minute.

"We're obviously very happy to be top of the league but the important thing is to stay there. It's a lot harder staying on top than getting there in the first place."