DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan hailed “world-class” scrum-half Francois Hougaard after Worcester Warriors’ 28-20 derby triumph against Gloucester.

Hougaard has been outstanding since arriving at Sixways last month and helped Worcester to their third win from four Aviva Premiership matches.

“Francois is a special player and they make a difference,” said Ryan.

“We are getting the most out of our guys but there’s no real substitute for being world-class.

“Some of his snipes around the fringes and his kicking to keep turning Gloucester were at a different level. He’s an outstanding player.

“Francois has definitely been a catalyst and given us confidence.

“He kicks well but we have been close to these sort of performances as a team and we are getting them more regularly now.

“Nobody could find the records of the last time this club won three games in a month in the Premiership.

“This group is trying to win three in a row and it just keeps moving on.

“We have got Harlequins next and it will be a big challenge for us.

“We look a decent team now and I am looking forward to the rest of the games to keep testing ourselves.“ Warriors’ front row of Val Rapava Ruskin, Niall Annett and Nick Schonert put in a huge shift as the hosts dominated the set-piece.

Ryan said: “Full credit to Schonert, Annett and Ruskin because they were up against John Afoa, Richard Hibbard and Nick Wood.

“I thought they did a great job. There were a couple of early scrums when they had to work it out but Gloucester eventually had to take off their front three.

“Nobody would have known who Schonert, Ruskin and Annett were at the start of the season and they have made a serious mark and won the game, “When you see Afoa having to be dragged from the field it just shows the pressure we were able to get on to them.

“I think Mefin Davies is one of the most knowledgeable scrum coaches I have come across and it just takes time to get things right.

“We have now got depth in the scrum. Niall has come in and made his point.

“JJ (James Johnston) has also come in. We finished the game with a scrum penalty at the end rather than one against us and it makes a huge difference.”

Ryan was delighted with Warriors’ fast start which saw Bryce Heem cross the whitewash in the second minute for the first of his two tries.

“We were brave against a big, physical side and we went straight out of the blocks and said ‘if we are going to win this, we are going to move you around and test you’.

“I thought it paid off and, in the end, we had the winning of the contest in the physical coming together.

“We were very clever and the coaches did a very good job at negating Gloucester’s kicking game which they’ve won a lot of games from.”