WORCESTER Warriors underlined their ambitions to win the British & Irish Cup with a brave display to beat Munster A 23-18 in Cork.
Head coach Carl Hogg described this penultimate Pool Three clash as Warriors’ toughest test since the opening day of the season and so it proved as the Irish side led 15-6 at half time.
But Worcester are a side which are not used to losing and they made sure they extended their winning streak to 12 with a fine fight back after the break.
Skipper Jean Baptiste Bruzulier and Charlie Mulchrone went over before Ignacio Mieres landed the decisive points from the tee to secure Warriors a place in the quarter finals with a match to spare, which delighted Hogg.
“It was a keenly contested game and we’re delighted to come out with a win away at Munster,” he said.
“It’s a difficult place to come but the energy of the group was fantastic.”
Warriors made a total of eight changes to the side which defeated Moseley last week, with academy ace Josh Watkins notably being selected on the wing.
But the youngsters’ outing got off to the worst possible start as he was sin-binned in the first minute for tackling a man in the air.
Munster were on the front foot at this point and they soon turned pressure into points, with Rory Scannell slotting home an eighth minute penalty.
But Warriors took little time to find a response as Warriors won a penalty from a scrum which Mieres converted.
The fly half added another three points on the 19th minute, but Worcester’s lead was short-lived as they gifted Munster a try.
Captain Jack O’Donoghue pounced on a loose ball before sprinting through to score.
This seemed to derail Worcester who conceded a converted try five minutes later to fall 15-6 behind.
Andrew Conway was the scorer and in some style as he chased down his chip over Ben Howard touch down in the corner. Scannell dispatched the conversion from outwide.
Warriors searched for a way back, but it was the Irish outfit who were on top and they could have added to their advantage before the break.
Dean Hammond was firstly on hand to dive on the ball after the hosts forced their way to the try-line before Scannell missed a penalty.
This appeared to give Worcester hope as they came out fighting after the half-time interval, with Watkins and Hammond showing great pace.
Warriors were also digging in defensively which frustrated Munster who were looking to put the match to bed.
As the half wore on, the visitors gained in confidence as they had their opponents pinned back in their half and the pressure eventually told when scrum half Bruzulier dived over on the hour mark. Mieres added the extras.
Munster responded with a Scannell penalty to give them a 18-13 lead with 15 minutes remaining.
But once again, Warriors battled back and they got their reward. Replacement Mulchrone managed to find a gap before dancing past defenders to touch down under the posts to leave Mieres a simple conversion.
Warriors thought they had a third try which would have finished off the game when Alex Grove went over. But play was brought back for an infringement, which set up a nervy finale.
Munster piled forward as they looked to snatch back the lead, but Warriors were equal to it with some stout defending.
And the travelling fans breathed a huge sigh of relief when Mieres coolly dispatched a last-gasp penalty to seal a fifth straight win in the competition.