FLANKER Sam Betty was left out of Worcester Warriors’ original squad for the clash at Bristol for tactical reasons.

Betty, who has enjoyed an outstanding campaign, was replaced by Sam Lewis after the young flanker bagged a hat-trick in Worcester’s Championship play-off semifinal second leg success against London Scottish.

But Betty was drafted into the starting line-up for the first leg of the final after Lewis was rocked by the sudden death of his father Roy and returned to Wales to comfort his family.

“Sam (Betty) has always got the bit between his teeth so I don’t really have an issue with that,” said the Warriors director of rugby Dean Ryan.

“We selected the squad for tactical reasons. There’s nothing we wouldn’t want to select Sam (Betty) for.

“Each player has a different skill set and we felt the skill set for that particular game was something we wanted Sam (Lewis) for.

“We never had any doubts about Sam (Betty). I don’t read anything into it. He played well against Bristol — but he always does. I don’t have any issues with him.”

Niall Annett’s late try, converted by Ryan Lamb, gave Warriors a 29-28 victory against Bristol and a one-point lead heading into Wednesday’s second leg shoot-out at Sixways.

On reflection, Ryan felt the first leg had been a mixed bag for his side.

“We were pleased to win and pleased with the way that we played but we recognise that it only moves us into the second-half and we have to prepare well for that,” he said.

“We are at home with everybody behind us and a shot of trying to get into the Premiership.

“We have worked all year to be given that chance and now we have to make sure we perform.

“We feel confident in elements of our game, which are going very well, but we recognise the threat Bristol bring.

“Bristol showed, in the second- half, they can squeeze a game and we were limited with opportunities. We have to work hard to make sure we can keep opportunities in the game.”

Ryan admitted Warriors’ triumph had given the players confidence, particularly after Bristol won both fixtures during the regular season by four-point margins.

“The key is to make sure our concentration and preparation is right for the second leg but I wouldn’t want to be fighting against the fact we hadn’t beaten Bristol,” added Ryan.

“We are pleased we got the win and with the manner we showed in the second-half when we recognise we were pretty much under the cosh — and there will be periods on Wednesday when we will have to deal with that.

“For the confidence of the group, it’s good to know they can play and score against Bristol and, as a collective, they can be a pretty good unit.

“They will need all those qualities in the second leg.”