NEIL Cole continued his impressive start to his fledgling Sixways career as Worcester overwhelmed Bristol United 43-14 last night.

The South African, who signed from Natal Sharks last week, impressed during the second team victory at Cleve Rugby Club. Cole's breaks and distribution took the eye as the scrum-half enjoyed his first start for Worcester and for director of rugby John Brain, he's already looking a real prospect.

"Neil carried on from where he left off at Wakefield on Saturday," said Brain.

"We gave him a 20-minute run out there and last night he built on that performance.

"He did very well last night, made a number of breaks, provided good service and controlled things pretty well. He is already looking a very good acquisition."

The game also saw the return from injury of long-term absentees, winger Nnamdi Ezulike and full-back Duncan Roke, and both looked to have come through their run-outs without a hitch.

Roke played 70 minutes after being yellow carded for back chat, while Ezulike played just under an hour.

"I think Duncan looked rusty," said Brain. "That, though, is to be expected. What's important is that he came through it unscathed and hopefully that's the case.

"We'll check on him later today to see if there is any reaction but he looked to come through the game OK.

"It was good to see Nnamdi back. Obviously it's going to take him some time to get his match sharpness back but he seemed happy with the run-out."

The match provided seasoned first teamers with the chance to get some game time under their belts, while a number of academy aces also shone against experienced opposition.

"We had our young prop Dylan Hartley playing against Richard Skuse and he came through that very well despite being up against someone with much more experience," added Brain.

"It was a useful exercise because we had a good blend of youth and experience out on the field. Dan Zaltzman captained the side very well, we got some injured players back and saw some very good things from our younger ones."

Chris Garrard bagged a hat-trick of tries from outside centre, while Matt Evans and Rhodri McAtee both scored a brace with the eye-catching Jon Higgins kicking four conversions.

Adrian Olver was the second Worcester player to be sin-binned for his part in a brawl which saw him yellow-carded and Skuse received his second of the game and a subsequent red.

"I think Chris Garrard has certainly given us something to think about at outside centre," said Brain. "He responded very well to being picked there and he gives us another option now."