WORCESTER END OFSEASON BASH

By J O'G
May 8 2016

There was definitely an end of season party atmosphere about the game. Both sides realistically had nothing to play for except entertainment and the win. Worcester’s announcer (who sounded exactly like Hugh Porter from the cycling) kept going on about last game of the season; and I’m thinking we have at least 2 more. Madam had agreed to drive and was off shopping in Worcester town centre (excellent range of big stores and independent shops was her opinion – will do this again next season) whilst I caught the shuttle bus into town. Same as the Madjeski £4 return and the same traffic chaos at the end; it took 55 minutes to get from the bus-stop the 1 mile to the M5 roundabout. Loads of SSA jerseys around, whilst I queue up a very long time for a quart of Guinness. Seat taken I chatter to the home supporters both to the side and in front. A very friendly bunch they are; crazy when you compare them to their paranoid cousins just 20 miles south

Worcester started brightly as Sarries again let the game get away from them in the first 10 minutes. The referee who was hot on ‘rolling away’ all afternoon gave Worcester a chance to kick to the corner. The drive was started but well defended and as the ball was fed to the backs Heathcote who had an excellent game at 10 was able to make a space for Symonds to crash over by the posts. I was hoping to see Hougarde whom the locals were saying is making Heathcote look good with crisp passing and time to work out what to do. Sarries old boy Luke Baldwin also seemed to be giving him the time. We then saw the difference in the kicking game plan. Sarries as normal employing the kick-chase; two men generally following up often competing and always nailing the man if he collected. Worcester were using the kick part only; Goode was able to collect with ease, meander back as the line came up and then pick the weak link to sprint through. Happened around 5 times in the first half and he was only caught once.

The first time Charlie was on hand for an exchange of passes and then a great inside ball for Neil de Kock. Neil has struggled in recent weeks with catching the ball with the line at his mercy and the answer seems to be not to pass to him in the breadbasket, but to make it a bit tricky. He collected this one from his toes and crossed for a great try; Charlie converted. From the kick-off Sarries cleared their lines and shortly afterwards were given another penalty. The first (before Neil’s try) had been kicked to the corner and Jamie had thrown to a blue shirt. This time Charlie opted to place-kick but the same result – nothing. Worcester came back into the game with a great passage of play; driving down the right side as the cover was pulled in then ran it back to the left. The 3 on 2 was converted well by getting the ball out to Vuna who ran around Ashton. Despite a great cover tackle by Bosch who cleared him into touch Vuna made it into the corner with an extended arm – great skill from a local favourite. Heathcote made the tricky conversion and De Kock limped off to be replaced by Ben Spencer

It wasn’t long after the restart that the ball was kicked (again no chase) to Goode and this time he jinked his way up to the 10 yard line through a number of half tackles. Quick as a ‘Flash ahh ahh’ Ashton switched wings and burst through on a diagonal onto the inside pass. Even as he crossed the 22 you knew he would score but Charlie missed (from around where the penalty miss had been) the conversion. Worcester were still 2 in front but that was soon wiped out from another rolling away penalty, this time more central and kicked well. Once Sarries had their noses in front, they went looking for more as Worcester kept trying to play their way out of their own 22. It was fun to watch but too many knock-ons. From one of these Sarries won a scrum penalty and kicked to the corner. This time Jamie made no mistake and as the maul fell apart close to the line Vinusa and a couple of mates clung together to drive to the line. This time Charlie kicked the conversion.

Worcester kept kicking to Alex and this time he went to the right, jinking through a gap before putting a grubber kick behind the defence for Ashton to latch onto for his second try. Charlie added the extras and the match looked in the bag, 15 points up at half-time and a bonus point already claimed. McCall thought so too and replaced Petrus, Kruis, Goode and Barrington at half-time. Excellent man management and the replacements meant a more even start to the second half. More like an ordinary game of rugby as the two sides jockeyed for scrum dominance and field position. It wasn’t until after the first lot of Worcester substitutions on 52 minutes that their replacements failed to stop Bosch making a nice break. He passed outside to Ransom who with a deft grubber put Ashton behind for his hat-trick. Charlie converted and Sarries kept up the pressure from the restart. The scrum was getting well on top now and penalties were coming from them all. This meant kicks to touch and great throwing practice for Jamie who looked back to top form.

Shortly afterwards Ransom took full advantage of a scrappy piece of play by both sides turning over possession before he found himself with an easy run-in under the posts. Although the game was over as a contest and Sarries trying really hard to get the 50 points up, Worcester’s defence was still working hard and as at Twickenham earlier in the season a break away looked on the cards. It seemed to come as a long passage of play left mismatches all over the park. Vuna chipped past the stationary Vunisa and there was no Sarries cover behind. A crazy piece of skill followed as Visuna extended an arm and plucked the ball out of mid-air, tucked it under one arm and ran back to the hallway line. Unfortunately Sarries were not able to capitalise on it. In particular Tim Streather looked full of running after his long layoff. Worcester had the last laugh with a second Vuna try. Following up a clean break on the far side, desperate defending had managed to pull Pennell down on the 5 yard line only for the ball to pop up as Vuna arrived. The only real forward pass of the day wasn’t reviewed but it would have been churlish to deny the break its reward. The kick was missed for a final score of Worcester Warriors 19 Saracens 43

Saracens

15 Alex Goode; 14 Chris Ashton; 13 Marcelo Bosch; 12 Nick Tompkins; 11 Chris Wyles; 10 Charlie Hodgson (c); 9 Neil De Kock; 1 Richard Barrington;2 Jamie George; 3 Petrus Du Plessis; 4 George Kruis; 5 Jim Hamilton; 6 Jackson Wray; 7 Kelly Brown; 8 Samu Vunisa.

Replacements used Saunders for George (64); Lamositele for Barrington (41); Figallo for Du Plessis (41); Smith for Kruis(41); Fraser for Wray(49); Spencer for De Kock (20); Streather for Bosch (62); Ransom for Goode.

Tries: Ashton x 3; De Kock; Vunisa; Ransom:

Cons: Hodgson x 5

Penalty: Hodgson

Worcester

15 Chris Pennell; 14 Bryce Heem; 13 Andy Symons; 12 Ryan Mills; 11 Cooper Vuna; 10 Tom Heathcote; 9 Luke Baldwin; 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga; 2 Niall Annett; 3 Nick Schonert; 4 Donncha O'Callaghan; 5 Dan Sanderson; 6 Sam Betty; 7 Carl Kirwan; 8 Phil Dowson (C).

Replacements used: Bregvadze for Annett (46); Bower for Leleimalefaga (57); Johnston for Schonert (57); Hewitt for Sanderson(66); Cox for Betty(46); Mulchrone for Baldwin(52); Lamb for Heathcote(52); Grove for Symons(52).

Tries: Symons; Vuna x 2:

Cons: Heathcote x 2:

Attendance: 9,722 (sounded more)

Referee; Luke Pearce

WORCESTER END OF SEASON BASH

Posted by: TheSaracens.com (IP Logged)

Date: 08/05/2016 19:05

Thanks Jeremy, sounds like a fun afternoon.
Sorry for the delay in publishing but I have just run my first (& last) half marathon as I approach my 60th birthday!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016:05:22:19:40:00 by Darraghgirl.