COACH Sam Vesty has given Worcester Warriors’ back division the freedom to “have a go” and “take some shots” at their Aviva Premiership rivals.

Warriors have shown attacking flair in their last two Premiership outings, opening up a 20-9 lead against Gloucester and carving out a 17-3 advantage at Bath.

Worcester drew 23-23 with Gloucester after being reduced to 14 men and took a second-half pounding as Bath powered to a 37-22 success last Saturday.

But Warriors have shown flashes of brilliance in both matches with lively showings from Perry Humphreys and South African centre Wynand Olivier.

Fly-half Tom Heathcote has hailed the philosophy of Worcester backs coach Vesty, the former England, Bath and Leicester Tigers star.

Heathcote said: “We have just tried to have a little bit more intent and confidence in what we do to try to put our game on to the pitch.

“Backs-wise, it has been exactly the same (as last season) with Sam (Vesty).

“He’s just given us that fire to take some shots and have a go at teams and show what we can do.”

Injury-hit Warriors scored three tries against both Gloucester and Bath after failing to cross Saracens’ line on the opening day.

Heathcote made his first start of the season at the Recreation Ground, replacing the injured Ryan Lamb, against his former club.

“It was pretty frustrating not to get anything from the game, especially with the way we played in the first half,” reflected Heathcote.

“We scored a third try with plenty of time to spare so we potentially could have got two bonus points at the end.

“In the first half, Bath were a bit off and we were right on our game and, in the second half, that shifted the other way.

“They turned on the big power runners in midfield and it was quite difficult to stop them.

“If you chuck in a couple of silly mistakes, knock-ons and a bit of indiscipline, the pressure turned on us and it was hard to bring it back our way.

“It was disappointing but from a performance point of view there were a lot of positives we can take.

“We saw a young backline and the young guys in our back-three played really well and they will take a lot of experience and confidence from it.”

Warriors are second bottom in the table, behind newly-promoted Bristol, and face a crucial home clash with eighth-placed Sale Sharks at Sixways on Saturday (3pm).

Sharks have picked up one win so far and were soundly beaten 26-13 at home by Gloucester last Friday.

“Sale went last season until April before they lost at home so I am sure there will be a backlash because they are normally very strong at home,” said Heathcote.

“It’s going to be a good game because both teams will be desperate for a win so it’s going to be a big game for us and we are looking forward to it.”