YOUNG tighthead prop Joe Morris might not have proven himself on the senior stage with Worcester Warriors.

But having gone head to head with Morris in the scrum loosehead Ethan Waller reckons boss Alan Solomons has got a player with “massive potential” on his hands.

Morris will graduate from Worcester’s academy this summer and go straight into the first-team after earning a professional contract.

The 21-year-old has yet to make his Warriors debut but was an unused replacement in the European Challenge Cup matches against Ospreys and Stade Francais in January.

He has also played regularly for Worcester Cavaliers in the Premiership Shield this season while studying for a degree in biomedical science at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

And Waller has faced the university student enough times in training to see that Morris has got a big future in the game.

“Joe is a great lad and a really good character to have around,” Waller said.

“He has obviously been at uni for a lot of the year.

“But when he has stepped in for some of the Cavaliers games he has been fantastic.

“We live scrum during the week so I have come up against him a few times and there’s some massive potential with him.

“I am absolutely chuffed for him that he’s got an opportunity to really show himself next year.”

Morris will face plenty of competition for a place in Warriors’ front row next term with Connacht’s Conor Carey and London Scottish’s Richard Palframan joining the club.

The trio will battle it out with current squad members Nick Schonert and Farai Mudariki for the number three jersey.

Waller said having five tightheads at Warriors’ disposal put the club in a strong position ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

“You only need to look at some of the clubs in the Premiership that haven’t had that depth and they have ended up getting a few injuries there,” Waller said.

“You can have as many good players as you want but you are not going to get as much dominance if you don’t have a good tighthead to cornerstone a scrum.

“The fact that we have got depth there can only be a positive.”