Friendly: Worcester Warriors 14 London Irish 23

It's not often that Shane Drahm getting injured moments before a game begins is a good thing. In normal circumstances, it would present Worcester Warriors with something of a dilemma.

Thankfully, Drahm's slight hamstring strain is not serious and his absence allowed Joe Carlisle to showcase his not-inconsiderable talents at fly half.

Still only 19, the young academy player is causing a lot of excitement at Worcester, and after scoring all his side's points against London Irish, it's not hard to see why.

The hands of Will Greenwood, the presence of mind of Charlie Hodgson and quite a bit of pace - Carlisle appears to have it all. He also has that one quality all good players have - time on the ball.

"His playmaking ability is considerable, his potential is considerable," said Worcester director of rugby Mike Ruddock.

"We've been really impressed with him in training; he's a very skilful lad. He scored a great try, we're really pleased with him and he can only improve. With experience, his kicking and running will get better."

Which, given Saturday's display, is a frightening thought. He kicked three penalties and his chip-and-chase for the Warriors' only try was well executed.

Carlisle represents a bright future for Warriors and, despite the outcome of the game, the present looks pretty rosy, as well.

The side now has the look of a team that represents an attacking threat on more than one level, although it is still short of being the finished product.

"Overall, I think we are pretty much where we expected to be [in our development]," said Ruddock.

"Obviously, there are some adjustments to make before the Bath game, but I was delighted with our ambition and skill level in the first half and I was delighted with our approach to the game overall."

The Warriors had led 9-5 at half-time but Irish claimed victory with two tries from Sailosi Tagicakibau and one from Topsy Ojo, plus eight points from the boot of Jeremy Staunton.