FORMER ULSTER BACK row Caleb Montgomery made his Premiership debut for Worcester Warriors in last night’s 32-17 defeat away to Wasps.
The 25-year-old joined the club last year and had featured in the Premiership Rugby Cup before but made the step up to the top flight of the English game at the Ricoh Arena yesterday.
Montgomery, who came through Portadown RFC and Banbridge RFC, was with Ulster in the 2018/19 season and earned a senior debut against Leinster in the Pro14 in January 2019, having previously impressed for Ulster’s A team.
He moved to Worcester ahead of the 2019/20 campaign and, despite suffering a wrist injury, signed a new two-year contract with the Warriors in January of this year.
His debut last night came off the bench in the first half, with Montgomery playing 42 minutes in total for Alan Solomons’ side.
[Click here if you cannot view the clip above]
The second-half turnover above was a highlight for Montgomery, who completed all nine of his tackle attempts and carried five times for 13 metres.
Worcester also gave a Premiership debut to Oli Morris, who was part of the Ireland U20 squad for the Six Nations last year.
The Irish-qualified centre/wing joined the Warriors’s academy from Saracens last summer and he made a try-scoring debut for the club against Enisei-STM in the Challenge Cup in November 2019.
Morris played for a Leinster’s Development team in late 2018 in preparation for his involvement with the Ireland U20s.
He and Montgomery will now hope to earn more senior appearances for Worcester over the coming weeks and into the 2020/21 season.
Irishman Ian Whitten started for Exeter Chiefs in their 32-22 win over Sale yesterday, with former Connacht man and USA international AJ MacGinty coming off the bench for the Sharks.
Ex-Ireland U20 second row Joy Joyce, who remains Irish-qualified, started for Pat Lam’s Bristol in their 33-24 win away to Gloucester. Former Ireland U19 Sevens international Callum Sheedy was out-half for the impressive Bears.
Paddy Jackson kicked a penalty for Declan Kidney’s London Irish in their 27-3 defeat at home to Northampton today.
Meanwhile, former Ulster out-half Johnny McPhillips has started at out-half for Leicester Tigers in their clash with Bath, which kicked-off at 4.30pm today.
