Worcester Warriors 24 Pontypridd 10
British & Irish Cup
Geoff Berkeley reports from Sixways
A BLISTERING opening 20-minute spell was enough to steer Worcester Warriors past Pontypridd and into the semi-finals of the British & Irish Cup.
Dean Hammond struck after just 45 seconds before tries from Ben Howard and Ignacio Mieres followed to put Warriors in control. Ponty’s assistant coach Gareth Wyatt said it was like being “hit for six”.
However, their failure to notch up a ‘cricket score’ continues to frustrate sections of their fans, while head coach Carl Hogg said he was disappointed that his side let their part-time opponents back into the match.
“It was a good first 20 minutes as we had exceptional pace out-wide and we exploited that early on,” Hogg said. “We got ourselves into a very healthy position at half time and in the second half we had lots of possession and field position.
“But we didn’t quite convert that and when they got that try against the run of play it became an interested last 20 minutes.
“I thought we got dragged down in the second half and it became a war of attrition, especially around the drive and the breakdown.
“Credit to Pontypridd as they made that area very competitive and they slowed it down and we struggled to overcome that.”
Since being forced to come back from 14-0 down to beat Yorkshire Carnegie last month, Worcester’s coaches have stressed the importance of getting off to a strong start.
And their players responded once again, with Hammond going over inside the first minute. Howard cut through Ponty’s defence before offloading to the wing to score in the corner.
The Principality Premiership title contenders gave their vocal supporters something more to shout about with a penalty from Simon Humberstone.
But they were soon silenced as Worcester struck twice in as many minutes to take a commanding 21-3 lead. Howard eased through for Warriors’ second try before Mieres bagged another try. The Argentinian pounced on a mistake from Walsh after a crunching tackle from Hammond dislodged the ball from the full back’s grasp. Mieres added the extras on both occasions.
Despite the double blow, the visitors had the chance to come back as Ravai Fatiaki was sin-binned for a late tackle. But it was Worcester who scored during this period as Mieres slotted home a penalty before some superb defending at the end of the half kept Ponty at bay.
The hosts’ back-line was looking threatening whenever they came forward as Howard sprinted through. But the full back spilled the ball as he looked to strike and this remained a theme in the second period.
Warriors had Ponty pinned back for long periods, but time and time again they let their opponents off the hook with poor finishing and ill-discipline.
This also gave the visitors hope of clawing their way back and when Tomos Williams went tearing through suddenly Worcester found themselves defending their line.
Worcester managed to stop Williams and Lewis I Williams, but the ball was then spread wide and Walsh touchdown. Humberstone dispatched the conversion.
This score came completely against the run of play and looked like turning the tide. Warriors’ frustration was evident as Mieres was yellow carded following a bust up, but fortunately for Worcester, Ponty’s fight back came too late to threaten their lead as they saw out the remaining minutes. And Ponty boss Wyatt admitted they gave themselves too big of a mountain to climb.
“To be fair to Worcester, they caught us a little bit cold at the start of the game,” Wyatt added. “They hit us for six and some of our players looked like rabbits caught in headlights at some stages in the first half.
“But I am hugely proud of the boys as they gave a good account of themselves in the second half.”