FLY-half Jono Lance is excited by the potential of Jamie Shillcock and hopes to play a “mentoring” role during his time at Worcester Warriors.

Shillcock has been given the nod ahead of Lance for the second week running as he starts in Worcester’s European Challenge Cup opener against Brive on Saturday (3pm).

The 20-year-old set up Dean Hammond’s try before crossing the whitewash himself while Lance watched on from the bench in Warriors’ 29-13 defeat at 14-man Bath last weekend.

Australian ace Lance has joined Worcester until the end of the year before linking up with Melbourne Rebels ahead of the new Super Rugby season.

Although desperate to get on the pitch, the 27-year-old says he is happy to provide support for youngsters Shillcock and Sam Olver.

“I had a bit of a surprise when I found out that Shilly was only 20,” Lance said.

“He has definitely got all the skills as a fly-half, so I am excited to work with him and Sammy who is only 22.

“There are a few little intricacies of playing fly-half (to work on) to help the team get around the park.

“But Shilly has got all the other sides covered and he is a confident player which always helps in that position.

“I am not too sure how many years he has played fly-half as well.

“He did a lot of good things against a quality opposition in Bath at the weekend so he is definitely going to keep improving.”

Lance featured for Western Force in their 2017 Super Rugby campaign and was involved in the Australian set-up last winter having been named on the bench for the Wallabies’ clash against France.

During his career, which includes spells with Perth Spirit and New South Wales Country Eagles, Lance has also had the opportunity to pick the brains of “world-class” players Bernard Foley, Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper.

And he said he was keen to pass on the skills he had gained to Warriors’ number 10s.

“I have been lucky enough to have learned a lot from some of the world’s best five-eighths and inside backs,” he said.

“There are some young five-eighths here like Sammy, Shilly and Tommy (Heathcote), so I want to be able to help them out and keep pushing their rugby forward.

“I want to play as much as possible and learn from playing with other people.

“But it is a long season and for me to have played with some world-class five-eighths this is definitely a good opportunity for me to give messages to those young guys.

“There will be a lot of the season left when I leave so I want the team to do as well as possible.

“I am definitely going to mentor them and keep give them advice and tips here or there.”