Worcester Warriors hold on to win at home again
Worcester Warriors 32 Wasps 31
Andrew Deering
Saturday December 04 2021, 6.00pm, The Sunday Times
Despite being less than a year into his tenure as head coach of Worcester Warriors, Jonathan Thomas may come to reflect on this bonus-point victory against Wasps as a tangible sign that his hard work at Sixways is bearing fruit.
This was the club’s third consecutive home victory. It was a result achieved through the commitment and hard work evident in the win over Sale Sharks in October and was aided by excellent performances from Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Sutherland.
The ability of Thomas to select some of his summer signings in a strong squad was in stark contrast to Wasps, who arrived at Sixways with 18 players unavailable.
That should not detract from Worcester, who held on to claim a priceless victory. They were dealt an early setback with Melani Nanai sent to the sin-bin but it seemed to have minimal impact on the hosts, who had Van der Merwe to thank for creating their first try. The wing broke down field to send Gareth Simpson over.
Wasps were next on the scoreboard, with the lock Vaea Fifita crossing after good work from Jacob Umaga and Elliott Stooke.
After a penalty for Fin Smith, Van der Merwe raced over from his own half after Wasps lost possession.
The visitors struck back through Dan Frost, having collected a pass from Jimmy Gopperth. At 17-14, the game was finely poised, but then Worcester thundered back with a penalty from Smith and a try for Ted Hill, the flanker picking up the loose ball after a barnstorming run from Kyle Hatherell.
After the interval, Worcester got the scoreboard moving once again within a few minutes. The replacement scrum half Will Chudley crossed for their fourth try after good work from Joe Batley and Sione Vailanu.
Wasps started to apply a huge amount of pressure on the hosts, with Graham Kitchener seeing yellow for the hosts. The numerical advantage paid almost immediate dividends as Sam Wolstenholme crossed after collecting a pass from Alfie Barbeary.
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The final ten minutes of the match were tense, as Wasps continued to try to complete a memorable comeback. They kicked to the corner and, after claiming the lineout, worked their way over thanks to Tom Willis. Faced with a tricky touchline conversion, Gopperth was unable to land the kick.
Worcester held on to claim a dramatic victory.
Scorers: Worcester Warriors: Tries Simpson (4min), Van der Merwe (22), Hill (38), Chudley (43). Cons Smith (6, 24, 44). Pens Smith (21, 31). Wasps: Tries Fifita (17), Frost (26, 52), Wolstenholme (65), Willis (77). Cons Gopperth (18, 28, 66).
Worcester J Shillcock; M Nanai, F Venter, A Beck (O Lawrence 40), D van der Merwe; F Smith (B Searle 62), G Simpson (W Chudley 40); R Sutherland (E Waller 71), N Annett (S Baldwin 62), C Judge (J Tyack 57), M Garvey (J Batley 18), G Kitchener, K Hatherell, T Hill, S Vailanu (S Lewis 57).
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Wasps M Watson; Z Kibirige, A McHenry, J Gopperth, J Bassett (M Minozzi 2-12); J Umaga, W Porter (S Wolstenholme 58); R Hislop (T West 45), D Frost (G Oghre 58), J Toomaga-Allen (E Millar-Mills 51), V Fifita (S de Chaves 28), E Stooke, B Shields (N Carr 78), T Young (A Barbeary 45), T Willis.
Referee Tom Foley.
Attendance 6,910.
Topic: Times match report (Read 613 times)
Always a Wasp