WORCESTER may not have had a fixture but last weekend was still an important one for the club.

Five Warriors players were getting valuable international experience, which can only serve them well when they pull on the blue and gold shirts.

Everybody at Sixways knows what Shane Drahm can do and now the England 'A' coaches will have a good idea after he weaved his usual magic against the Italians. Further honours must surely lie ahead for one of the Premiership's top number tens.

But what is more important from a Worcester point of view is the number of youngsters who are turning out for their country.

Richard Blaze, Craig Everett and Nick Runciman were all involved in the Under 21 game at Sixways.

In a strange twist of fate, the man who scored the winning try for England, Leeds Tykes player Jordan Crane, grew up within 10 miles of the ground.

The lack of local talent playing in Worcester's first team is surprising given the quality of their academy and the superb facilities at Sixways.

But it surely won't be too long before some of the county's finest are making their mark at the highest level.

Prop Matt Mullan, a former Bromsgrove School student, has already made his first-team bow and there are others not too far behind.

Mullan was also involved with England at the weekend, coming on as a second-half replacement against Wales. He, along with Worcester team-mate Chris Pennell, will start tonight's match in Italy.

But the fact that local youngsters are struggling to make the grade at Sixways probably says more about the standard required by the club than weaknesses in the youth set-up.

And even the ones that do make it through still have an awful lot of work to do to make the first team.

Uche Oduoza, the exciting teenage wing, has been in sensational form in European matches but the Premiership is another step and he is untested at that level.

Oduoza, Blaze and centre Simon Whatling look to be the three players best equipped to make the transition to first team regulars but, for the rest, there is still some way to go.

That much was obvious during the club's Powergen Cup tie in Newport at the end of last year.

The coaches sent out an inexperienced side and they were easily over-powered by modest opponents.

Pat Sanderson, the current Warriors skipper, made his breakthrough as a teenager at Sale.

He now admits that countless hours in the gym were not sufficient preparation for the pain and punishment meted out to him on the playing field.

Rugby is almost unique in terms of the physical demands placed on players and, for that reason, it is unsafe for players of unequal stature and ability to compete with each other.

When youngsters are called up for senior duty it can be something of a rude awakening.

That's why international matches are so vital for the education of these young players.

The bigger and better the opposition is, the less daunted they will be at the prospect of coming head-to-head with the best players in the country.