DEAN Ryan is a happy man at the moment and Worcester Warriors’ 42-12 victory over Bedford Blues made his smile widen even more.
The director of rugby watched on with delight on Friday night as his creative and clinical backline tore the visitors’ apart.
Tries from Tom Biggs and Val Rapava Ruskin set Warriors on their way before the hosts turned on the style in the second half. Mat Gilbert struck twice, while GJ Van Velze and Max Stelling also crossed as Warriors chalked up a fifth straight league win.
“It is becoming a weekly comment now, but I am really pleased with where my players are at the moment,” Ryan said. “They are getting more accurate, more disciplined and they have a better understanding now of what we are driving towards.
“We are playing at a higher level than we were three weeks ago and I hope we can keep driving things upwards.”
Warriors set the tone with a thrilling start to the match, which saw Stelling go close before Biggs eased over in the opposite corner.
Lamb was the architect as he demonstrated his kicking skills and vision in the early stages. The fly half’s cross-field found Biggs before the ball was recycled and the former Bath wing went over. Lamb added the extras.
Warriors remained on the front foot and added to their account moments later when a catch and drive saw Rapava Ruskin burrow over. Lamb once again converted from out-wide to move Worcester 14-0 in front after just 15 minutes.
Bedford, meanwhile, were struggling to get out of their half and they appeared to have conceded another try when Stelling raced over in the corner. But referee Steve Lee ruled it out for a forward pass from Ben Howard.
This seemed to give the visitors’ confidence as they began to get a foothold in the match and soon got on the score-sheet. Some sluggish defending allowed Bedford to gain ground before Darryl Veenedaal made the decisive break as he broke through Stelling’s tame tackle. The scrum half then unselfishly passed to Joe Vandermolen who simply touched down.
Although the conversion was missed, Bedford were showing signs of making a game of it. But they suffered a blow just before the break when skipper Paul Tupai was sin-binned.
Warriors were denied a try on the stroke of half-time for offside. But they came storming out of the blocks and took less than a minute to get off the mark.
After a powerful run from prop Mike Daniels, Howard and Stelling combined before Van Velze finished it off and Lamb converted it.
Warriors were now in full flow as Ryan Mills, Lamb, Howard and Stelling looked to carve out a try at every opportunity.
Lamb was particularly lively as he sent over pin-point kick to Gilbert who appeared to dot the ball down in the corner. But once again, the referee thought otherwise as he ruled it out for a knock-on.
Worcester continued to pile forward, though, and it was some slick passing which paved the way for try number four. After receiving Mills’ quick inside pass, Howard darted through and offloaded to Stelling for simple score. Lamb converted.
While Worcester’s backs were firing on all cylinders, the forwards were also packing a punch as they forced their opposite numbers back at will before Gilbert crashed over. Lamb made no mistake from the tee to move his side 35-5 ahead.
The Blues appeared to have received a boost when Howard was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, but they failed to make it count, while Worcester continued to take their chances
Gilbert, who produced another fine display in the back row, powered over near the posts and Ignacio Mieres dispatched the extra two points.
This looked to cap off a superb display from Warriors, but it was Bedford who had the final word as Dean Adamson broke free to score, which Jake Sharp converted.