JOHN Brain is urging supporters to be patient with Sione Kepu.

The 24-year-old New Zealander only got to grips with his new surroundings this week af-ter signing a three-month deal at Sixways.

And Worcester Warriors' director of rugby is hoping fans will not pile the pressure on the winger, believed to be Jonah Lomu's cousin, as he starts from the bench in Sunday's Premiership clash at Leeds.

"I would like supporters and the Press to make their own judgement but not on the basis of a bench appearance on Sunday," said Brain.

"He will need time to settle into the team. Potentially, he can be an exciting player and he has an opportunity to prove that at Worcester. However, there is a big danger that too much is expected of him. I don't want the pressure heaped upon him. Judge him on the next couple of months rather than building him up too soon.

"He's come from the Auckland development team -- we're not talking about Joe Rokocoko. It's been a simple case of us needing a player in that position and we've taken some information on a player that suggests that Sione is quick, a strong ball carrier with a good hand-off.

"He's a big guy, has settled in well at Worcester and we see it as an opportunity to use him as an impact player against Leeds on Sunday."

Supporters will inevitably latch on to the link with Lomu but, for Brain, that piece of trivia is immaterial.

"We're not interested in that," he said. "We've signed Sione Kepu, not Jonah Lomu. We've signed him because we think he's a good player but, as for the link with Jonah, it's just irrelevant.

"I wouldn't even enter into the conversation with him about that."

If Kepu gives Worcester more oomph out wide, every Sixways supporter will have been delighted with the pack's revival on Saturday. Worcester's forwards were too much for Quins as Brain's boys drove them off the park -- a throwback to the dominant form of last season's pack.

Pat Sanderson, Siaosi Vaili and Lee Fortey were the beneficiaries of Worcester's improved drive as they crossed for tries and Sixways almost had a feel of last season when flanker Gavin Pfister scored a bagful of touchdowns from catch and drive moves.

"It's been improving as the season has progressed," said Brain. "It's something that does require power and technique. We've worked on the technique and against Quins we got a lot of the small details that we work on right.

"We were successful on Saturday but you have to back that up throughout the team. It is a significant area of attack and we produce it on a regular basis because teams don't know how to defend against it.

"We look to attack teams using pace and width but we also like to attack using power. If we can get both areas of our game right, then it makes us a very difficult team to play against.

"We want to build on the drive because it was important for us last season. The best team in the Premiership at present -- Leicester -- have pace out wide but they also have a power game. That's what I want Worcester to have.

"As far as I'm concerned, however, there is a long, long way to go. We're on the bottom rung of the ladder and we've got a lot more work to do if we want to keep improving."