THERE is a pattern emerging in Worcester Warriors’ matches and it is beginning to get under the skin of head coach Carl Hogg.
Warriors may have extended their winning streak to 11 with a 31-12 victory over local rivals Moseley in the British & Irish Cup at Sixways.
But for the third week running, Worcester failed to kick on after the break. The hosts appeared to be in cruise control as they led 24-0 at half time thanks to tries from Dean Hammond, Sam Betty, Tiff Eden and Dan George.
But once again they needed a late score to settle the contest as Alex Grove powered over with eight minutes remaining and Hogg admitted Warriors’ second half slumps were becoming an increasing concern.
“We did some sterling work in the first half,” Hogg said. “But for some reason in the second half we can’t seem not get our game up to that next level.
“That is something we will need to address because in the last three or four weeks we have put ourselves in a position to really put a team to the sword and we have not been able to achieve that.”
Warriors have also become known as quick starters and they continue that trait on Saturday. With less than a minute on the clock, Grove burst through and found Chris Pennell in space before the England international unselfishly offloaded to Hammond to touch down in the corner.
Warriors were also showing early promise in the tight areas as a driving maul saw Betty burrow over for try number two.
Eden’s failure to back those up with successful conversions gave the visitors some hope. But Mose were proving to be second best in many departments as Worcester took control.
Moseley received a welcome boost on the 22nd minute when Perry Humphreys was brandished a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.
But instead of making their numerical advantage count, they gifted their opponents a try. Eden intercepted Sam Olver’s pass inside his own half before racing through to score under the posts. The young fly half added the extras to open up a 17-0 lead.
This appeared to be a big moment in the match as the away side conceded another just before the break, with hooker George powering over from close range.
Eden slotted home the conversion to make it 24-0 and Warriors’ coaching staff would have been hoping to see more of the same from their side after the interval.
But as they did against Plymouth Albion and Jersey, Worcester could not put in a repeat performance in the second period.
Warriors were not helped when Betty was sin-binned after he hit out at a Moseley player and Kevin Maggs men made sure they made the most of it this time around. Alex Day took a quick tap penalty before easing over the whitewash.
Several substitutions also caused Worcester to lose their shape while Moseley continued to up the ante and they eventually got their reward.
With 15 minutes to go, Joe Carpenter benefitted from a catch and drive to score and reduce his side’s arrears to 24-12.
Worcester’s fans looked set for another tension-filled finish at Sixways. But fortunately they did have to wait too long for their side to get the winner.
Grove was the scorer as he drove over after Ravai Fatiaki and Jonathan Thomas made hard yards.
Despite suffering with cramp, Eden made the conversion to seal victory, which leaves Warriors almost on the brink of qualifying for the knock out stages of the B&I Cup.