Worcester Warriors 29 Plymouth Albion 8
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Geoff Berkeley reports from Sixways
FROM not knowing much about Cooper Vuna’s finishing skills before his sudden arrival at Sixways last week, Worcester Warriors now look like they could do with them.
The former Melbourne Rebels wing was due to make his debut last Saturday before an injury picked up in training on Friday denied him the chance.
But without even playing Warriors’ inability to break through Plymouth’s resistance strengthened Vuna’s case for a starting spot.
The league’s basement side even went 8-7 ahead at the start of the second half before Worcester finally woke up and claimed a valuable bonus point win.
And director of rugby Dean Ryan admitted the late changes, with Sam Smith replacing the injured Vuna and Ignacio Mieres taking the place of Ryan Mills, who also failed a late fitness test, were behind his side’s lacklustre display.
“We lost Ryan Mills and Cooper (Vuna) yesterday and it showed,” he said. “Some of things we were trying to play were built around them, so to lose them both was disruptive.
“We did not adapt well to the change in personnel. It became about winning a game, so we missed an opportunity to push ourselves on in terms of getting better.”
However, Ryan did get the chance to see Sam Lewis, who left Ospreys to join Warriors with immediate effect, and he was impressed by his first showing.
“I thought Charlie Mulchrone, Andy Symons and Sam Lewis looked really sharp across the breakdown,” he said. “But we did not get enough continuity to see what Sam can bring in terms of skill set.
“I thought they were the three people who stood out. But it’s a bit worrying that some others didn’t take their opportunities because they are running out.”
With the sun beaming down on Sixways, the conditions appeared perfect for running rugby and with the two sides on opposite ends of the table, there only looked like being one winner.
But Worcester’s backline which had been tearing up all before them struggled to function against a determined Albion side.
The hosts were also have a difficult time at the lineout, but fortunately so were Plymouth and it was from an overthrow which helped break the deadline.
Ted Stegg’s throw flew straight over the top to Mulchrone who showed great footwork to evade a couple of tackles before scoring in the corner. Andy Symons slotted home a touchline conversion.
Despite the 20th minute try, Worcester still were unable to settle as careless mistakes stopped them from extending their lead.
Plymouth, meanwhile, were gaining in confidence and with five minutes to go before the break they closed the gap with a Declan Cusack penalty.
Warriors had the chance to hit straight back when Mieres intercepted his pass and dashed through. But the fly half’s failure to send Andy Symons clean through with a simple offload rounded off a dismal opening 40 minutes.
And things went from bad to worse moments after the break. A speculative chip over the top fooled Lewis who failed to deal with the bounce of the ball as Ben Woods pounced and touched down. Cusack missed the conversion, but suddenly Warriors were behind.
Fortunately for Worcester’s fans, their side reacted well and turned the match on its head.
After Sam Simmonds was yellow carded, Worcester bagged two tries in quick succession.
Chris Pennell scythed through a gap to score before turning provider for Max Stelling went over. Symons converted both.
Warriors now had a spring in their step and with 15 minutes left they secured the bonus point. Mulchrone sent his side on their way before Pennell offloaded to Ben Howard who burst over.
The hosts went down to 13 men as Mike Williams and Van Velze were sin-binned, but they refused to let Plymouth in for a second try.
And they even had the final say as Symons dispatched a penalty to complete the scoring.